The Legend of Korra Series Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

[Rodan56]

You know, I actually started suspecting that they could go the Korra and Asami route at the end of season three. It just seemed like they were leaning very heavily on the fact the girls had gotten closer in the season. And honestly, by the end of the series, Korra and Asami were the only two characters I cared that much about so I was all for them getting together by then. And I picked up Turf Wars just to see them kiss... because damn it, if the TV ain't going to finish what is obvious, comics will and should!

Seeing the discussion on here about Mako, I find it interesting how things shifted so much. As in, usually it is the female character who becomes a useless, boring toss away side character only good for a romance sub-plot. Here, that happened to a dude. I just find that an interesting development. I'm not saying it's ideal, the ideal is all characters, regardless of gender, end up looking interesting, compeling and enjoyable to watch. But I do find it rather funny how that all flipped around this series.

The series overall is flawed, I'll grant that a lot of parts of it rubbed me wrong. But I did like a lot of the series and I did enjoy seeing it. I guess, the situation is much like when you see a movie you know isn't great, but you find enough to love about it that you don't regret seeing it either.

I want to go through Aang's journey again soon, the whole series, beginning to end. I'll probably do the same with Korra, but mostly I just want to see Asami and Korra again and how they evolve as characters. With Airbender, I come for everyone, even the villains, which is rare cause I usually just hate them and don't care about them. For Korra, I just want to check in on my girls again. And that's fine, they're enough to keep me invested, but I won't deny that it is a failing of the series.

[Steve]

To me, Legend of Korra's strengths and weaknesses flow from the same source; they shook things up. They took risks. Sometimes they paid off - Book 3 was downright brutal at times, and yet is the best book in the series, and deciding to hook up Korra with Asami has paid off for the most part (although there are holdouts of opposition to the pairing, and not just the usual homophobes) - while sometimes they failed. And sometimes those failures really hurt the series (I'm looking at you, Book 2). If Nick had showed faith in the series maybe some of those failings would have been ameliorated by the chance to do long-term arcs (even with a season-by-season basis for the villains).

As for Turf Wars, some of it I like, but I can't help but worry that Michael DiMartino seems to think that Korra should still get in-your-face aggressive, like using the Avatar State to intimidate the developer or getting hostile with her father when he advises her to be careful about their relationship being public. Sure, Korra's still got a feisty edge to her, but she's also expanded herself beyond her Book 1 attitude of "when in doubt, get angry and use threats". I mean, she didn't convince Kuvira to apologize to Su by beating her up or intimidating her with the Avatar State, but by convincing Kuvira by showing her understanding of Kuvira as a person.

Another problem was that exposition infodump about homosexuality acceptance in the Avatar world. Yes, Sozin was a bastard, do you really have to make him a homophobe too? If you were going the route of "the Fire Nation turned on homosexuality", why not have it happen under Azulon as part of a "Make more babies so we get more soldiers!" initiative? Using Sozin was just cheap. And the entire segment was clunky in the extreme, a gross violation of "show don't tell".

[Winter]

With Airbender, I come for everyone, even the villains, which is rare cause I usually just hate them and don't care about them. For Korra, I just want to check in on my girls again. And that's fine, they're enough to keep me invested, but I won't deny that it is a failing of the series.

I was actually thinking of writing up a few essays on Korra and one them being how the ending of the series is like the ending of Mass Effect 3. Not that its bad as I've made clear with my own comments but in that much like ME3's ending the ending is the one thing that dominates all other comments of the series.

It doesn't matter how good the stories themselves are or their flaws all anyone can really talk about is the last scene. Even if you talk about something else the ending will come up in the conversation at which point it will overshadow what you were just talking about. Of course the key difference here is that the ending to TLOK is actually good which has changed Western Animation for good while ME3's ending stabbed the series in the heart and its debatable whether it will ever recover.

Korra is still going strong and Turf Wars, while having its issues, was still well received and was sold out in a number of stores. MEA under performed so badly that BioWare Montreal was shout down and all DLC's were cancelled.

[Rodan56]

Korra is still going strong and Turf Wars, while having its issues, was still well received and was sold out in a number of stores. MEA under performed so badly that BioWare Montreal was shout down and all DLC's were cancelled.

Not that those points aren't factual, they are, but I feel the need to defend Andromeda a bit. The game wasn't horrible, it was just rushed, but not everything about it is a tire fire. When it works, it works great! And the characters... well I still love them. I think Peebee and Vetra are some of their best romances, with the former being an emotional ride that is incredibly rewarding and passionate. I just think the game had problems that should've been addressed before release and, regardless of those problems, it should've been allowed to release its DLC.

On topic though, your point concerning Korra's ending is well-founded, as it does seem to overshadow a lot. But honestly, if it can produce such ellicit, joyful, happy reactions in people, like you say yourself, I can't really condemn it. Maybe it's because I've been let down by too many series in my life, too many things ended badly for me or not the way I wanted. So to see people feel included, feel like their voices matter, to feel something special and beautiful, even if it does overshadow other elements of a show... I can't fault it for that even if it isn't ideal.

I guess what I'm saying is, I try to find the good within the flaws.

[Winter]

I guess what I'm saying is, I try to find the good within the flaws.

I get that, I have the same overall thoughts when it comes to the Star Wars Prequels and the resent Justice League movie as, while they do have their issues, I feel that their strengths more then make up for their flaws. Same thing with TLOK, for all the issues the show has it does make up for it in a number of ways. Sure I don't like the Love Triangle, like at all, but Korra and Asami's relationship more then makes up for it.

The first two seasons plots are all over the place, in my opinion, but seasons one and two learned from this and are better for it. I also feel that the show had more characters then it needed and tended to put a bit to much focus on ones I found less interesting then the leads but with that said the leads were still great.

I also wish that Hollywood would learn from Korra and Asami's relationship, the vast majority of fandom doesn't care about sexuality all we want are relationships with characters that have real chemistry that makes you want to see more of them. Take Lara and Sam from Tomb Raider, despite the fantastic chemistry the two have, which is something that every writer who has worked on the series has commented on, the Studio is adapting out Sam from the upcoming Tomb Raider movie and bringing in a male love interest who is just there to be a love interest to "prove" that Lara is totally into guys and isn't interested in girls at all as they it will offended the viewers and the fanbase. A fanbase who love the relationship between the two and have been demanding Sam's return. A fanbase that is so big that Sam has a huge following in China.

Let me repeat that, a Japanese character has a huge following in China and the only reason we don't hear more from them on that is due to China's restrictions on social media. And Hollywood wants to write this character out because they want offend the fans... I just hope that, with Sam being freed of Himiko in Choice and Sacrifice that her return will be foreshadowed in either the most resent arc or the one after that.

Sorry for going off topic just really needed to get that out of my system.

[Steve]

I'm not too shocked at that. Making Lara non-straight means you risk losing potential ticket-sales, I suppose.

Why does Lara even need a love interest? Ugh, these people, they can't do a movie without having to hook up the main character, can they?

[Winter]

I'm not too shocked at that. Making Lara non-straight means you risk losing potential ticket-sales, I suppose.

Why does Lara even need a love interest? Ugh, these people, they can't do a movie without having to hook up the main character, can they?

I actually posted my thoughts on the trailer when it was released and I noticed something else that Hollywood also can't seem to resist which is taking away Lara's agency in her own story. Think about it, the reason Lara is going on the quest to save the world is because she was told to by her dead father which is in complete contrast to A Survivor is Born where she was doing this because she wanted to first make her mark and later because she wanted to save her friends.

Which leads into the other major issue with the film based on the trailers, sense Lara is going on this quest because she was told to and found the island because she was following her fathers research that means she is not at fault for anything that goes wrong which is, again, in contrast to the game as it was Lara following her gut and not following in others footsteps. Which meant that it was her fault that her crew was stranded and that Himiko was almost freed and she had to do what she could to save her friends and stop Himiko.

Much like Korra, its the characters flaws and how they work to over come them that makes them so engaging. Trying to make them flawless only creates problems that are never addressed or resolved. And much like Korra I have to role my eyes whenever anyone calls Korra or Reboot Lara weaklings who cry all the time when really they only cry once or twice and with good reason.

And going back over to Sam, much like Asami, she a great character in her own right that adds just as much to Lara as Asami does to Korra. Now I'm not saying that they have to end up together but I do think that Sam should return as Lara's in game partner and at the very least keep their relationship ambiguous instead of introducing some random guy who is just there to be a love interest or trying to force her and Jonah together just because he's the only male character who's still alive.

And I like Jonah but compared to Sam he hasn't really grown as a character and most of his changes have been a bit forced whereas Sam has really grown and changed to do everything that's happened to her over the course of the series. Like Asami, Sam has endured some rather bad things and she has emerged stronger because of it. For crying out loud she basically pulls a Kirk by playing a game of Chicken with a Crazy Demigod and it was the latter who flinched!

[Darmani]

I was just rewatching his Book Air review.. he dismissed the moral dilemma of Korra muscling Tarllok rather easily but pontificated at length at aang depowering Yakone who was not just charged but a fugitive from his own trial after assaulting judges, councilors and officers.

I...I mean BETWEEN the two instances one is much MUCH closer to abuse of power than the other. Yes, Energybending is fucking scary but everything about the sequence is Aang uses such as a last resort and supports the system as is first and foremost, not short changes it.

I just don't see Energybending (or bloodbending hilarious how presentation morally frames the LEAST necessarily violent bending technique) as inherently wrong and the use of them needing more moral justification than any use of force, let alone bending.

[CharlesPhipps]

#AmonWasRight

I have to say that I felt Korra 1 and 3 remain the best of the series as they deal with the most interesting moral dilemmas as well as ideas. I regret the fact they eliminated Amon so early in the story but understand the reasoning. I also think it showed a remarkable awareness of the issues underlying the setting.

Re: Mako

I think I lost any sympathy for Mako when he cheated on Asami with Korra and vice versa. He was also a character who consistently never stood up for his friends (or even brother) when the chips were down. There's a reason nobody liked Mako by the end. Honestly, I half wanted a Ron Stoppable Bolin romance for him because...yes, he's a goofball but the guy is great to be around.

Much better partner than his brother.

Re: Sam and Lara

They could be romantic partners certainly but I also note the issue with the story there was that Lara was trying to save ANY and ALL of her crew. Sam was just the last one in the group that she rescued. Lara lost three of the men on the ship and each time, it was for them to save her (one completely unnecessary) so she was damn well going to make sure she didn't need saving as well as saving Sam. I liked their friendship too and certainly you can put the shipping goggles on it but I feel like the Sam love undermines the larger story in Tomb Raider.

I will say the second game had NONE of the heart of the first and the lack of a decent supporting cast was a major reason for this.

[Lizuka]

I went through quite a rollercoaster with Korra. Loved season one, season two I pretty much disliked from the outset and eventually I just gave up and stopping watching right before the finale without even bothering to finish the season and that was the end of that.

Much later though I decided to watch through the whole series and out of that, I came away thinking season one was still very good but not quite as much as I'd first thought, season two still completely sucked, season three was fantastic, and season four was okay.

Really biggest issue I have with season four is that the villains are nowhere remotely close to as interesting or intimidating as Zaheer, and they know this but won't actually try and do anything to fix it. And the plot has to bend over backwards to make Kuvira any sort of a threat - not just in Korra's whole lead thing, I can accept that, but also in how absolutely nobody noticed this obvious bloodthirsty dictator rising to power until it was too late to stop her. Then there's the absurdity of her just having an unstoppable doomsday mech for no adequately explained reason.