Should Amon and Tarrlok Not Have Been Brothers?

[Winter]

This is something that's been bugging me for a while I'm not a fan of the plot twist that Amon and Tarrlok were secretly brothers the whole time or the idea that both were bloodbenders. Part of the reason for that is the fact that it's introduced in the second to last episode of the season and the fact that nothing prior to that really ties into this twist aside from them both being bloodbenders.

For most of the season Amon is just a terrorist who wants to get rid of bending and Tarrlok is just a tyrant using the Equalist crisis to gain more power. That dynamic in and of itself is fascinating because they keep proving each other right but only because they're both going to extreme measures to prove each other right. Tarrlok proves that Benders are oppressing non-benders and that the only way to achieve balance is to destroy all bending and Amon proves Tarrlok is right that drastic action must be taken to stop the treat of the Equalists.

However, as we see in the show the truth is more complex then that. Mako and Bolin are both benders but have next to no money and the Sato family are non-benders who are among the richest people in the world. Likewise despite the BS of the Love Triangle the Brothers are good people as is Asami and they get along just fine.

Amon is a fanatic and such is obsessed with destroying the thing he sees as the source of evil and seeks to destroy while Tarrlok is a fascist that seeks to destroy anyone who stands in his way to power. That's already an interesting relationship that can only end one way which is why I don't care for the two being related because them being brothers does not tie into that conflict even slightly.

Don't get me wrong it could be interesting to explore that sort of relationship that two brothers who loved one another so much only to end up so differently that they are both sides of the argument and not only that are both extremist. There was no other way for this relationship to end then with one of them killing the other.

But the show tries to have it both ways and thanks to the overload of characters and plot lines there's no time to explore either relationship and cramming it in at the end hurt the seasons overall story.

And so, if you were rewriting the first season of Korra, would you have Amon and Tarrlok remain brothers or have them not be related at all. Both could you but you have pick and commit to one side or the other and in terms of trying to streamline the story I think them being brothers should be dropped altogether. Just have Amon be a terrorist and Tarrlok as just a fascist. They're both great villains in their own right and you can still work on their own.

[stryke]

Would have taken away probably the best, man I can't believe they did that moment of s1 with them both dying at sea, and for that as you noted, they really do need that relationship to exist to have that hit as hard as it did.

Do agree it could have done with some more fleshing out, then I can say that for a alot of s1. It's not even the limited number of episodes or them thinking it might be a one and done before cancellation hence them needing to rush so much, it's that they often chose to focus on stuff that frankly wasn't very good (or was a shallow blatant attempt to service the passionately engaged Zutara crowd), when they could have been using that time to make the plot they had flow a lot better.

[Winter]

Would have taken away probably the best, man I can't believe they did that moment of s1 with them both dying at sea, and for that as you noted, they really do need that relationship to exist to have that hit as hard as it did.

Do agree it could have done with some more fleshing out, then I can say that for a alot of s1. It's not even the limited number of episodes or them thinking it might be a one and done before cancellation hence them needing to rush so much, it's that they often chose to focus on stuff that frankly wasn't very good (or was a shallow blatant attempt to service the passionately engaged Zutara crowd), when they could have been using that time to make the plot they had flow a lot better.

I still hold that TLOK is as good as TLA but I have to agree with you. I'm currently working on a rewrite of the first season and I decided to not include more episodes since the first season was suppose to be one and done hence the self-contained story arc.

When I worked on the rewrite I decided to remove Mako and Bolin from the series, not out of any dislike for the characters but rather because they don't really add all that much to the story and what little the do add hurts the story. By removing the brothers I got rid of the love triangle and Pro-Bending Tournament Subplot which freed up a lot of space and allowed me to focus on the main story. The only issue I ran into by removing Mako and Bolin was that their story is how Asami was introduced and Asami is honestly a lot more important then many fans seem to realize but in the end the solution was simple, have her and Korra know each other back when they were kids.

The Sato family came to the South Pole for some sort of business trip and during that time Korra had begun her training and she and Asami met. The two spent a lot of time together and became friends but eventually the Sato's had to return to Republic City. Korra and Asami kept in contract as much as they could but between Korra's training and the death of Asami's mother and the impact it had on her the two weren't able to always keep in touch.

No love triangle, no PBT nonsense and we get to the meat of the story faster while focusing more on a relationship people do care about instead of the shallow ripoff of Zutara.

Further more by having the relationship with Korra and Asami be more in focus it ties into the central conflict of the first season by having The most powerful bender being friends with a non-bender. One issue I have with the Amon being a bloodbender twist is it completely undercuts the theme as it becomes all about Benders fighting for the fate of non-benders and the only notable non-benders don't get much say in this conflict, which is kinda funny because the conflict between Asami and her father is the only major plot line from the first season that had any lasting impact on the series.

I would change it where Korra and Asami fight Amon together in one last final fight and together they are able to defeat him. Thus proving him wrong by having the embodiment of bending fighting alongside a non-bender against him which shows that non-benders and benders can co-exist and that benders do care for and will stand along side non-benders.

I should note I didn't completely turn this into the Korrasami show as Tenzin and Lin also get a lot more focus as does Amon and Tarrlok. I'm just not sure if they should still be brothers or not but the long and short of this is I'm working to streamline the story to better fit a 12 episode format because if Madoka Magica can tell such an epic story with the same amount of time surely so can Korra.

[stryke]

When I worked on the rewrite I decided to remove Mako and Bolin from the series, not out of any dislike for the characters but rather because they don't really add all that much to the story and what little the do add hurts the story. By removing the brothers I got rid of the love triangle and Pro-Bending Tournament Subplot which freed up a lot of space and allowed me to focus on the main story. The only issue I ran into by removing Mako and Bolin was that their story is how Asami was introduced and Asami is honestly a lot more important then many fans seem to realize but in the end the solution was simple, have her and Korra know each other back when they were kids.

Ooh I do like the sound of it, but I'm wondering if we can keep Bolin. He has the cute critter, he can sell the theme that even benders for their mystical powers still don't do so good in this city, and we can use him to introduce Asami without needing to add extra backstory.

As a well meaning doofus who has some connections to the seedier side of the street he can easily be hooked up into be friends with Korra by the end of the first episode as he helps her understand how the city operates so she doesn't go all 'Avatar smash you gotta deal with it'.

Then as you've now got one local to hang out with he can draw in another local but one of a much higher class in Asami. Maybe he tries to steal her tyres, and Korra has to talk her out of calling in the metalbenders or something. Plus he can be a fan of the pro-bending league so we can more easily keep it as a setpiece location without needing to have it dominate the season as much as it currently does.

Mako hasn't much to do that's worth keeping so he can be neatly excised, but I think Bolin has to be there for the start so his later arc with Kuvira works as well as it does.

[Winter]

When I worked on the rewrite I decided to remove Mako and Bolin from the series, not out of any dislike for the characters but rather because they don't really add all that much to the story and what little the do add hurts the story. By removing the brothers I got rid of the love triangle and Pro-Bending Tournament Subplot which freed up a lot of space and allowed me to focus on the main story. The only issue I ran into by removing Mako and Bolin was that their story is how Asami was introduced and Asami is honestly a lot more important then many fans seem to realize but in the end the solution was simple, have her and Korra know each other back when they were kids.

Ooh I do like the sound of it, but I'm wondering if we can keep Bolin. He has the cute critter, he can sell the theme that even benders for their mystical powers still don't do so good in this city, and we can use him to introduce Asami without needing to add extra backstory.

As a well meaning doofus who has some connections to the seedier side of the street he can easily be hooked up into be friends with Korra by the end of the first episode as he helps her understand how the city operates so she doesn't go all 'Avatar smash you gotta deal with it'.

Then as you've now got one local to hang out with he can draw in another local but one of a much higher class in Asami. Maybe he tries to steal her tyres, and Korra has to talk her out of calling in the metalbenders or something. Plus he can be a fan of the pro-bending league so we can more easily keep it as a setpiece location without needing to have it dominate the season as much as it currently does.

Mako hasn't much to do that's worth keeping so he can be neatly excised, but I think Bolin has to be there for the start so his later arc with Kuvira works as well as it does.

It's a lot harder then you might think. With this rewrite I was able to keep the characters arcs of Korra, Asami, Tenzin and Lin mostly unaltered as they all tie into the central conflict. Asami's father being a benefactor of the Equalist movement, Tenzin's conflict with Tarrlok and Lin being Tarrlok's scapegoat and her leaving the Police all play out as they did in the original series just with more time dedicated to them while also streamlining the story more.

For example I was able to introduce Asami part way through Chapter 2 instead of chapter 4 with her history with Korra being done in a montage at the start of chapter 3 in montage without any dialogue (or at least nothing we can hear) that lasts for, at most, 1 minute and 30 seconds.

For Bolin to be worked into the story he would most likely have to be a minor character who appears here and there, maybe replacing the hobo Korra runs into but he's story would need to be changed rather greatly to justify making him fit in here. Not to mention needing to increase his role in the following seasons to make a lot of plot points work.

And just to prove this has nothing to do with my dislike of the character I'm seriously considering removing Varrick and Zhu Li along with Eska and Desna despite honestly loving these characters because there are just to many characters and to many plot points that go with them. The first two seasons are the overall worst when it comes to balancing plot points while the final two do a much better job at balancing things but are still a little overstuffed.

I will continue to try to find a way to get Bolin, Varrick, Zhu Li and the twins in but right now I'm still figuring it out how this all will work as I'm really only on episode 3 of this rewrite and am trying to avoid the pitfalls of other fan rewrites.

[CharlesPhipps]

I think it was just fine as it was.

[Winter]

I think it was just fine as it was.

The relationship between Amon and Tarrlok or the season as a whole?

[Thebestoftherest]

I kinda wish they didn't get rid of the eaualist once Amon went down.

[CharlesPhipps]

I think it was just fine as it was.

The relationship between Amon and Tarrlok or the season as a whole?

The relationship as well as the season. For Amon and Tarrlok, it's important to establish that Amon is a massive hypocrite about his abilities and not actually a spirit bender (which would be hypocritical enough as it is).

[Nobody700]

I really feel like, while Korra had some good antagonists later, Amon was their best one. He had the strongest argument, felt very different from everyone, had a pretty good backstory that explained his hatred of bending even though he is a bender, and fits to the fears of a unifed group who are fighting against oppression who really want to be the oppressors. Making him brothers with Tarrlok is... odd, but I say it fit with how the two were changed but differently by their dads abuse. I think if the show creators knew they had more seasons, Amon would have survived and joined up with Zaheed and his group to end the power structure, with Amon seeing BENDING as the power structure, while Zaheed and his forces see it as just government in general.