Legend of Korra continued - season finale SPOILERS

[fionwe1987]

great to hear we're getting two episodes tonight. Will try and get then watched after work :)

This is what lunch breaks are for. :idea:

[Metopheles]

Also a bit weird that at first Zaheer wants Korra to teach her something and convince her about his good intentions, then suddenly he is the typical villain with the typical goal and the typical failure. Kill the avatar.

Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Azula, Zuko, Long Feng, Zhao, Yakone, Noatak, Tarrlok, waterbender chief(Sorry forgot name), Earth Queen, Zaheer.
every enemy has the same goal. And they should know by now that it wont work out that easy.
Why did the guy from season two win? Because he convinced her.
Zaheer would have gotten the same if he just stuck to the reason.




And we could go and say that Suyin is Stoneheart of ATLA.
tons of clues and all, yet we dont get her :'(

[fionwe1987]

Also a bit weird that at first Zaheer wants Korra to teach her something and convince her about his good intentions, then suddenly he is the typical villain with the typical goal and the typical failure. Kill the avatar.

Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Azula, Zuko, Long Feng, Zhao, Yakone, Noatak, Tarrlok, waterbender chief(Sorry forgot name), Earth Queen, Zaheer.

every enemy has the same goal. And they should know by now that it wont work out that easy.

Why did the guy from season two win? Because he convinced her.

Zaheer would have gotten the same if he just stuck to the reason.

And we could go and say that Suyin is Stoneheart of ATLA.

tons of clues and all, yet we dont get her :'(

I found that weird too. Maybe the idea was to brainwash her, but since that is no longer possible, they decided to end her. But why not kill her and kidnap the next Avatar baby? It would be born in the Earth Kingdom. Unless the plan was to brainwash her into doing their work then committing suicide.

Also, while Zaheer obviously failed, I think he's probably come the closest. Poison, plus long moments of oxygen deprivation. Azula could have actually done it, but she chose not to, of course.

[Pliskin]

I don't see how it's weird.

They want to get rid of the balance, the four separate nations. The Avatar's mission is to keep that balance.

The Avatar's existence goes against their beliefs.They can only end the Avatar cycle and let the people decide for themselves, instead on relying on the Avatar's will.

[fionwe1987]

I don't see how it's weird.

They want to get rid of the balance, the four separate nations. The Avatar's mission is to keep that balance.

The Avatar's existence goes against their beliefs.They can only end the Avatar cycle and let the people decide for themselves, instead on relying on the Avatar's will.

I don't think the Avatar's mission is to keep the four nations separate. Otherwise Aang would never have founded the United Republic. On the other hand, the Avatar is undeniably a world leader, capable of accruing vast political power, and able to dominate by her/his incredibly powerful bending (moving a mountainside, seriously!). As such, I can see why that's against the Red Lotus's mission. But what's weird is that they wanted to kidnap her and train her. Why not just kill her? That's why I think they maybe wanted to use her first to start the chaos they needed, and

then planned to kill her.

[Lol]

I don't think the Avatar's mission is to keep the four nations separate. Otherwise Aang would never have founded the United Republic. On the other hand, the Avatar is undeniably a world leader, capable of accruing vast political power, and able to dominate by her/his incredibly powerful bending (moving a mountainside, seriously!). As such, I can see why that's against the Red Lotus's mission. But what's weird is that they wanted to kidnap her and train her. Why not just kill her? That's why I think they maybe wanted to use her first to start the chaos they needed, and

then planned to kill her.

by kidnapping and training her from a young age they would have been able to indoctrinate her into their cause, and they would want the powerful both politically and bending wise entinty that is the avatar to back them up

[Pliskin]

by kidnapping and training her from a young age they would have been able to indoctrinate her into their cause, and they would want the powerful both politically and bending wise entinty that is the avatar to back them up

They don't want anyone in a position of (political) power, including themselves.

I don't think the Avatar's mission is to keep the four nations separate. Otherwise Aang would never have founded the United Republic.

Well, I suppose it's a prerogative that's very open to interpretation. It's the subject of the first graphic novel, btw. And Aang clearly distanced himself from it, yes. And opposed Roku in that matter.

But what's weird is that they wanted to kidnap her and train her. Why not just kill her? That's why I think they maybe wanted to use her first to start the chaos they needed, and

then planned to kill her.

You mean, when she was a child?

I think their goal was always to get rid of the Avatar cycle. But the only way of doing it is to kill the Avatar when in the Avatar state. So maybe a child cannot attend this state and they needed to train her before killing her ? Dunno.

[Wmarshal]

simply beautiful, Zaheer was great villain, as great as Ozai, with his squadron not completely gone, or at least not seen gone, I hope to see them again. The aftermath was beautiful scene and well done the writers really how to build characters.

[red snow]

Just watched it brilliant and touching on many levels

The animation of Korra in her weakened state was heartbreaking - she looked so fragile. The battle was a great homage to the Ozai vs Aang showdown (I think the battleground may have even been the same?)

Zaheer was excellent, I couldn't help liking him throughout and if it hadn't been for his doubledross (why did he need to do that?) then I'd still argue his cause was with merit. Bolin lavabending was something I should have seen coming but it took me by surprise. Which of Toph's daughters killed the explosion bender? That was nasty. I also loved the scene where one of the red lotus guards was complaining about not being at the ceremony "I could have held a bowl of poison". The balance of everything was great throughout

Can't wait for the next season especially if it builds on this one. The creators have hit their groove at last and there's a good chance the show can still rival the original.

One small nitpick is how everyone seems to be able to bend now without "dancing" - it just seems too easy for everyone to automatically manipulate everything around them. It's not that it contradicts the show's mythology as I think the dancing was always a means to channel the mind over the element (along with the fact the animals have mastery over them without the need for gestures) but it just seems like everyone can do it these days. It's really only a nitpick as I do love watching all the cool fight scenes that such mastery allows.

[red snow]

This is what lunch breaks are for. :idea:

I'd have required an extra half hour to recover. Plus it'd be hard to explain all the tears while watching!

[Fat Mac]

Wow, great finale. Some thoughts

-P'li's death was absolutely brutal, though clearly necessary. I enjoyed the way Ming Hua and Ghazan went out as well.

-Loved the Aang parallel with Jinora.
-I don't think we can fully rule out Suyin having Red Lotus ties/anarchistic tendencies, but these episodes made it clear she wasn't allied with Zaheer.
-New metalbending lady? Curious, I think she might have a future purpose.
-So.... can flight be considered a subset of airbending? Similar to lavabending for earth, or lightning for fire?
-Lavabending Bolin. About 80% of all fans saw it coming, but it was still cool to see.
-Glad Tenzin's not dead. Last episode had me scared
-Cool parallels to Aang vs. Ozai with Korra vs. Zaheer. The landscape was even similar
-I like how they brought Zaheer down. It shows the true new faces of airbending are the ones learning at the temple, not people like Zaheer.
-Zaheer living gives me hope that we'll see him next season! They're gonna have to build a better prison though :)
-Korra weakened was tough to watch. I don't like how she was the only badly injured good guy from the showdown (Tenzin, Bumi and Kya seemed to recover quickly)
-I'm thinking Kai is going to be the next one to achieve mastery after Jinora. He's already got a bison
-I heard Season 4 will tie to season 3 more than Season 3 did 2. Maybe more Red Lotus members? Perhaps Zaheer is a villain next season too?
-Bye, bye, Northern Air Temple :(

[Liffguard]

Great finale, this season has been really fantastic overall.

Some thoughts:

- Holy crap, P'lee's death was even more brutal than the Earth Queen's. I can sort of see why Nickelodeon might have been uncomfortable broadcasting some of this stuff.

- Similarly, the effects of the poison on Korra were pretty graphic. Good animation.

- Brilliant action scenes. The animation and fight choreography were top notch.

- Zaheer is now my joint favourite villain for the entire franchise, tied with Azula. I was a little disappointed with his final scene, degenerating into evil maniacal laughing and ranting but everything else was excellent. The whole "become wind" thing was really well done.

- I assumed the new named metal-bender would be relevent somehow. Cut scenes, or setting up a new character for next season?

- Mako lightning-bending. Minor nitpick, why didn't he do that earlier in the season? There were lots of times it would have been extremely useful.

- Nice visual callback to the ATLA finale in that final battle.

- I thought the little relationship moment between P'lee and Zaheer was actually really touching.

- Completely random, I kind of want to cosplay as Zaheer now. With my head shaved I'd actually look very similar.

[fionwe1987]

The creators were on the Nerdist podcast:

http://ec.libsyn.com/p/8/b/e/8be43c8be74597bb/nwp154_korra.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06c88f30d4cb5e0d6e&c_id=7519616

A really interesting discussion that spans all the way from the inception of ATLA to the troubles of Book 3.

Some highlights:

1) Korra was conceived as the anti-Aang. It didn't just work out that way.

2) They compare the multi-Book arc Zuko had to Korra's arc. They say that they knew Zuko would turn good right from the beginning. But they also realized they had to make him do worse things before they could make him flip. The implication was that the same is the case with Korra. They put her through the wringer before the land her at the fairly good place they have planned for her at the end of book 4.

3) They talked quite a bit about how Korra is not the reluctant hero at all, unlike Aang, and so they've found that each Book has only fallen into place (and had appropriate tension) when they figured out the motive of their villain. Till they created Amon and his ability to threaten Korra's most valued abilities, her bending, they didn't quite know how to proceed with Book 1.

Point 3 was particularly interesting. After all, in all 3 Books, the villains don't just want to do bad things to the world. All of their plans have involved threatening the core part of Korra's identity: her being the Avatar. They didn't get the memo that "you've got to deal with it". I think exciting things are in the offing for Book 4.

One major nitpick with the finale: Why didn't Korra go into the Avatar state the moment she heard from Mako about the Airbenders? Presumably, it took the desperate fear of death for her to break free of the platinum chains in the cave, but even if she didn't get free on Laghima's peak, she could have completely defeated Zaheer and P'Li?

Also, I really hope Korra is crippled for a large part of Book 4. I think her depression here is from a realization that this is possible, and I think her growth will now come from how she does what the Avatar needs to do, but without being able to physically dominate the conflict herself. Instead she much ask her friends to go into danger.

As for why Zaheer didn't want the Airbenders freed, I'd like to think its because he anticipated that a free group of Airbenders could change the course of the battle in Korra's favor.

[Sci-2]

Incredible.

Simply incredible...

[andrew_]

While predictable, it was still a very entertaining finale, I still think I prefer season 1 overall but this season got ever so close.

The final battle between Korra and Zaheer was so reminiscent of Aang vs Ozai I got chills down my spine! It was also very Dragon Ball Zeeish which I loved.

Hopefully Netflix picks this show up, fuck Nickelodeon for taking it off the air.

[Ballin Bolin]

Great episode, I agree with most of what others have said, so I won't bother repeating it.

Really interested in what Book 4's gonna be about and really hoping it's gonna be as great as Book 3. This is definitely my favorite season of the three, even though I loved the short Avatar Wan arc in Book 2. High hopes for the future.

[Azzanadra]

Great stuff, I hope they continue with Red Lotus stuff next season.

Also, with this finale and "Long live the Queen", I think I know why Nickelodeon took it off the air...

[red snow]

Great stuff, I hope they continue with Red Lotus stuff next season.

Also, with this finale and "Long live the Queen", I think I know why Nickelodeon took it off the air...

I'm also starting to wonder if Nicklelodeon have actually been telling the truth in saying they want to test their most popular online show as an online show. The fact it also allows them to show killing/have deaths is probably another motivating factor. They were caught with their pants down due to the leaked premier and that's why the promo was out the window. The tricky thing is that they have to find a way to promote the show as an online entitiy for it to work well. If they can't do that hand it to a online TV channel that can,

It also dawned on me that one of the reasons I loved the ending was that Tenzin finally realised he can't just bring the Nomads back - they have to be something different and perhaps better than before. I like the idea of airbenders helping those in need. The sad thing was that it suggested Tenzin doesn't think Korra will get better. I presume the world's leader water healers have already dropped by?

[Sci-2]

It also dawned on me that one of the reasons I loved the ending was that Tenzin finally realised he can't just bring the Nomads back - they have to be something different and perhaps better than before. I like the idea of airbenders helping those in need. The sad thing was that it suggested Tenzin doesn't think Korra will get better. I presume the world's leader water healers have already dropped by?

I'm assuming there's at least some neurological damage - she'll get better but it will likely take longer than anyone planned. I suspect it will take a long time to heal, though for all we know she'll be out of the wheel chair at the beginning of Book 4...though I hope not as I think seeing her recovery would be rather unique for a cartoon.

I'm curious about S4's main villains. I wonder if it will be a non-bender, a Moriarty type master mind behind the Red Lotus. There's also the spirits who are causing a ruckus so one of the major villains may be a spirit as well. Additionally Korra hasn't really developed her spiritual side, which might also be something she can do if she can't fight for the first few eps of S4.

[fionwe1987]

I'm assuming there's at least some neurological damage. I suspect it will take a long time to heal, though for all we know she'll be out of the wheel chair at the beginning of Book 4...though I hope not as I think seeing her recovery would be rather unique for a cartoon.

I'm curious about S4's main villains. I wonder if it will be a non-bender, a Moriarty type master mind behind the Red Lotus. There's also the spirits who are causing a ruckus so one of the major villains may be a spirit as well.

There may well be a chaotic Spirits-Red Lotus alliance.

I also hope they don't show Korra hopping about right away.