This has been a very mixed season. The first half was full of Korra … basically being a jerk. "You're not the boss of me now. And … yeah, what I just said!" And "Korra, even though I am an adult, I am going to say something utterly doltish that will further alienate you and encourage this adolescent stupidity."
It's not that the basic conflict was unrealistic, but just that people were acting unrealistically stupid. And, yeah, people act stupid all the time, but this felt … auctorially stupid, purely for the purpose of furthering the plot.
Which, in the first half of the season, was all over the place, with too many cast member and too many threads.
The second half, on the other hand, recaptured that frisson of big stakes, big adventure, personal growth story that made the original "Avatar: The Last Airbender" such a joy. Oddly enough, once Korra lost her memory and then regained it, she suddenly stopped acting like an idiot. Similarly, once the adults in question were faced by an overwhelming challenge (and, even more so, after they faced their own memory loss and madness), they started acting like, well, adults.
The conclusion of the book represents a real game-changer. Where they go with the storyline from here, I have no idea (having not yet read http://goo.gl/Bskbe4 yet — though, now that I have, there are no spoilers). But while the first half of Book 2 left me more tepid about "Korra," the second half has brought me back into the fold.
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I spent about 20 minutes just going "WATWATWATHOLYCRAPWAT" after the finale. SO much to go on now!
I loved Avatar the last air bender. I've watched it over and over again. I felt the same way about the first half of korra book 2. I'm sad to see the season over but look forward to what comes next.
We watched the last two eps (an hour block back to back from Nick) together. And, yeah, it was a big, escalating power OMGWTFBBQ Avataraganza of Big Power Stuff. It was a bit more powers fast-and-loose than the A:TLA's finale was ("Oh, you can do this, and now he can do that, and there's this tree, and now you can do this other thing, and now purple rays are beat by blue rays but now yellow rays!"), but it emotionally held together just fine.
My concern over Book 3 is that Teh Cutz of fuzzy spirit bunnies might make things a bit goofy over time. Further, it makes the setting feel less real.
And, frankly, I was a little disappointed by the breakup of two couples in the last few minutes. It felt — forced. Like a "this would complicate Book 3, so let's just get it off the table" kind of thing.
That said, I don't feel like my viewing time was wasted. Onwards!
Whilst the breakup was a little quick, I'm really glad they did it that way. A mature breakup where they both acknowledge it's not going to work instead of trying to dump Asami or have another fight…. it was quick but right.
Awful deus-ex machina ending.
As opposed to Aang's "good" deus-ex machina ending? 😉
poda loosu
+Freddy Rayos Yeah. It's easy to handwave a satisfactory ending by literally have near – deus characters duke it out. I felt they did so in a way that was fairly well grounded in what we'd seen before (less so than with Aang, +Samuel Hart, but reasonably so), to the extent that it didn't have an out-of-left-field sense to it to me.
Curious to see the consequences surrounding the Book 2 ending and what it means for Korra and future avatars.
I just watched those two in an hour block as well. I liked it, though I'm not sure about the spirits flying all about. The spirit world is one of the things that always bored me about Korra. Don't know why, just feels so boring and slow next to all the martial arts and bending awesome. They already have downtime with the romance and learning and whatnot. So the episodes with spirit shenanigans always felt <yawn> to me.
I get what you're saying about the first half of the book, but I think that that only made the 2nd half so much better. The redemption of the characters, so to speak.
And honestly. Book 2 was better than Book 1.
same shit happen in the thundercat
UK based… What is this? I feel left out.
It's an American Anime…the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you haven't heard of that, then you are tripping on some very large balls my friend.
Awesome ending
just wait for book 3…
the story of the 1st avatar was the highlight
One of the best!!!!… very good ending
It was over-the-top and it raised a lot of questions. The writing staff definitely deserves praise for not allowing status quo to reign in the end (which perhaps everyone was expecting).
Let's see how Book 3 goes…
I loved the finale and hated it at the same time. The only reason I didn't like it was because Korra just blindly followed some uncle she had never seen without giving it a second thought and expected everything to be perfect. She was too optimistic.
+Martin Cruz I agree that Book 2 was more magically epic than Book 1. I actually appreciate Book 1 more now than I did then — it's sort of a cramped, low-scale Avatar adventure, but it raised some interesting questions about non-benders in a bending world. Plus it introduced 30s Shanghai Bendingpunk Republic City, complete with old-timey radio announcer guy, so that's five kinds of awesome.
+Tissot Regis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Korra has a decent summary. It runs on Nickelodeon, if that's accessible to you in the UK. Book 1 is available on DVD in the UK via Amazon, at least.
+S.G. Black I'll agree the Tenzin story arc (both for himself and for his relationship with Korra) was underdeveloped.
I loved all of Book 2 up until the last two episodes. The story of Avatar Wan was some of the best writing/design in all 5 books so far, and are two of my forever favorite episodes. But the ending…even not counting SuperKorra, the deus ex machina came when Jinora literally descended from the heavens in a shining ball of light to give the hero the thing she needed to succeed. Copy & paste deus ex machina ending.
I thought they had a good thing going with the Dark Avatar idea (then again, Vaatu didn't get re-imprisoned, so it's still a viable plot option for Book 3…). I was watching to see if the Dark Avatar would ever use anything other than waterbending, because Wan still had to get them from the lionturtles, and Vaatu never had that opportunity. Thankfully, he never did, so that's a retcon dodged.
However, one of the things with TLA was that at this point, we knew some of the stuff that was to happen in Book 3. Each of Korra's books, however, appear to be independent arcs. There's no Sozin's Comet or equivalent plot point to link them all together, and I think that makes the series weaker (than TLA) overall. Other than some recurring characters, there's just not a lot that the Books have in common with one another, resulting in the first three to four episodes being the establishment of the main story, a non-sequitur middle, and then the closing of the threads…in a twelve episode season; it feels like we hardly got started before it ended, and that made the SuperKorra at the end feel even more unjustified. I would say this was easily the weakest of the 5 Books in terms of spine.
Anyways, that's just some thoughts I had. I still love the series and will continue to watch it religiously.
Im still wondering if the memories of the past avatars will come back or not…
Yeah the broken connection to past Avatars is upsetting. I want that fixed.
+Martin Cruz what are you talking about? Book one was so much better.
+Kevin Macku I agree. I got really hung up on Jinora and no explanation for her shining ball of light rescue. I did love the Avatar Wan story, definitely two of the best episodes in both series.
+Samuel Hart Aang's ending wasn't so much of a deus ex machina since they had spend a good episode towards the end with the "melon lord" and lion turtle scenes exploring Aang's frustration and his search for another way which was touched upon throughout the series.
with the LoK; Korra emerges from the tree of time as some sort of demi-god after she suddenly becomes a spiritual master and learns to bend her inner spirit and then Jinora suddenly also a spiritual guru materializes out of nowhere to help defeat the dark avatar.
The finale was so fucked up.. I mean really? REALLY KORRA? We have been watching your fucking mistakes since season 1 and now she broke the whole series. She lost the freaking connection the the past Avatar lives.. The whole core of the show. Korra officially Worst Avatar #EU/NA #Confirmed
I have to agree with Fotis, Korra is the biggest problem with this series. Constant rebellious nature and constant mistakes. You think she would have learned after Book 1, but no. I will say however this book story was rather interesting, but could have made for a long book with more explanation on specific events. Its sad to hear that they are making a Book 3 and investing more time in to Korra instead of passing the torch.
+Fotis Tsaknakis Dude, not even. Korra is now basically the most spiritually enlightened and powerful Avatar to have ever existed. Did she fuck up? Sure, but was it on purpose? No, not at all. With the way she managed to significantly enhance what was previously known to be possible with Energybending, she seems to possess more power than nay previous Avatar. While it sucks that all future avatars won't be able to speak to Wan, not all is lost. Who knows? Maybe we might see Aang and Roku and Kyoshi and Kuruk again. Maybe she'll regain it in Book 4 (though I don't see how). We'll just have to wait and see.
i luv legend of korra
+Kevin Macku I concur on both Wan and Jinora; the latter's role or metaphysical attributes were not well laid out, making her final intervention too hand-wavey for my druthers.
Korra has suffered from the first Book being originally intended to be it, the end of the tale. The remaining books have been sketched out since the first book's success, so the overall coherence of the series is still shaky.
+Fotis Tsaknakis The breaking of the Avatar chain will, I trust, have some consequences. Rebuilding it might be her quest going forward.
I've been more bothered by the casual way Korra's entered the Avatar State, esp. this book. It's felt more like a simple power-up than the earth-trembling event it was when Aang would do it.
+Ed Smith I've had less problem with Korra's rebelliousness per se than that it's come across authorially lazy — "Hey, what do we do next? Oh, Korra can be sullen or cranky or rebellious or angsty. That always works." It comes and goes as needed, and her apologies later on feel shallow.
+Michael Abreu If Iroh is hanging out in the Spirit Realm somewhere, presumably the other Avatars are not beyond Korra's reach.
i finished watching the season two dvd!
bruh i wonder wat the nxt kora is about
+Michael Abreu Dude are you for real? Is there something worse for Korra to do than breaking the Avatar line? THIS IS IT! There is nothing else past that. This SHOULDN'T be fixable. The show should end here. Why should we wait for a lionturtle to come and save Korra or Aang to come and heal her again? If the show ended here I'd be somewhat content that I wouldn't see the show become worse on the later books.
And yes Korra made mistakes. One huge mistake on Book 1, but why make the same mistake on Book 2? She never learns. That's why she is bad. Due to make the same mistakes over and over she broke the connection to her past lives. It's like the Avatar is completely gone! What's the point of the Avatar now? The Avatar existed to keep a balance through the Spirit and the Physical world. Now that the spirits live IN the Physical world there is no need for an Avatar. That's what you are basically saying.
Also the most powerful Avatar is Aang by a long shot. Not only he beat the crap out of people when he was 11 with little training compared to Korra, but he also appeared before Tenzin in Book 2 who had no connection to the spirit world whatsoever. Think about this. It's fine for Aang to appear before Korra cause he is living within her per se, but appear before a "stranger"? This proves his spirit is the strongest.
I'm thinking there's bound to be some backlash from leaving the portals open. And depending on how far ahead they jump Sozin's comet could play a part.
+Fotis Tsaknakis The breaking of the Avatar line was done by the bad guys, and not directly by any gross error in judgment by Korra. One can argue that her mistakes over the season led to the problem eventually occurring, but a lot of other errors and mistakes by others, and scheming by bad guys, were involved. One could as easily blame Mako and Bolin for not keeping Unalaq out of the Spirit Realm while Korra was fighting (and beating!) Vaatu.
Aang's manifesting to Tenzin is noteworthy, but not convincing that he's the most powerful Avatar. His spirit appears in front of his son, Tenzin, while in the middle of the Spirit Realm (inside a spirit, in fact). Heck for that matter, one could argue that he's not actually Aang, but a hallucination by Tenzin, a manifestation of his greatest fear, and then an exercise of will to break free from the Valley of Lost Souls.
+Dave Hill I'll have to agree about Aang. I have had a lot of thoughts when he first appeared in front of Tenzin (in the spirit world, oh well) but if that was indeed Aang one would argue that his spirit is really powerful.
Also my opinion is that Korra's initial mistakes lead to this whole thing on Book 2, that's about it I don't wanna hear how this could be "fixed" or prevented since it has already happened.
Have a good day sir.
It possible they may tie book 1 and book 2 together by addressing how the opening of the spirit portals will affect non-benders. I really liked the whle "equalist" thing – I certainly hope they go back to it again.
Also – I am loving this whole discussion. Carry on.
I think they should just leave korra where it is now and end the series. because, lets face it, it's kind of difficult to top a guy that's that's basically satan. (Of course I'm talking about Unalaq/vaatu)
+Noah Zorn I don't know we can assume Vaatu is gone. Indeed, the whole light/dark/balancy thing indicated that Vaatu cannot be destroyed. He hasn't been captured, so I can only assume he's been dispersed helplessly, which implies the potential to gather oneself together again.
That said, it's going to be difficult to either bring him back the same way, or to come up with something that tops him in a way that won't be silly.
I liked the show and the explanation of how the avatar started was a great plus… But it kind of doesn't make sense that korra could lose her connection with her past lives. Brava is the connection to the past lives. It if through her/it that gives all the avatars their power to bend all the elements. Korra lost the connection when brava was destroyed but Korea was able to get her back so that should have fixed the problem then. Also the avatar state is the collection of power from every avatar before how is it possible for korra to be weaker than vattu demon guy when her uncle only had his experience to go on and korra had 10000 years worth.
I also agree with other posts that the avatar state in LOK definitely seems weaker than in LAB. Aang seemed like an unstoppable force when he entered the avatar state korra just seemed to gain a little power boost. I wager that an avatar state aang would have beaten Korra's uncle
I'm mixed on the ending cuz they messed up the avatar cycle I want to see more won and angg
+Ryan Logan I don't think Avatar power is aggregate over each generation. The experience can be drawn from each previous Avatar, but not the power (otherwise it would have been no contest with the Fire Emperor, either).
As to how the connection could be lost and not regained — it's handwaving wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey authorial fiat. We'll see how permanent it is going on.
I'm just sad we won't see any more of Aang or the other avatars, unless Korra somehow regains her connection with them. I sort of doubt it, though.
Korra should still close the portable cuz what if we have someone try and pull another evil plan with spirits like unalaque
I hope season 3 doesn't take as long to animate!
Interesting article here on where Books 3 (and 4) are/aren't going: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/11/22/the-legend-of-korra-creators-writing-pretty-much-done-for-final-book-in-saga/
Short story: less teen romance, no Dark Avatar return, probably no restoration of the Avatar chain (maybe), more Bumi.
I have to wonder if, looking at Book 1 and 2, the decision at the end of 2 will ultimately mean less tension between benders and non-benders, insofar as everyone has some potential access to the spirit world and its creatures in ours.
OMOGIAVIGE beast series ever
I agree that the avatar state doesn't give direct access to the power from each avatar but according to LAB when aang went into avatar state it it gives access to that aggregate of experience from each avatar. And coincidentally it was a no contests once aang went into the avatar state. Aang was simultaneously bending all for elements at once to over power the fire lord. Korra on the other hand just seemed to switch very quickly between them for the most part.
I agree with the list of connection tho. While there are many reasons that in theory she should not have lost the connection. In the end it's the author's privilege to do what ever they feel like. Even if it doesn't make much sense to us. Hopefully the next season doesn't have such controversial elements
The first half should've been focused more on how Unalaq tricked Korra, and how she was broken and try to regain herself. Pretty much like ep 7 and above.
Then the second half should be how Korra regained trust and finding a way to stop Unalaq.
But of course, that's purely my opinion. Quite happy with the 2nd half, but 1st half could be more into character growth rather than pure Korra-bitching.
The first half, +Jovino Margathe, reminded me of a NaNoWriMo novel — throw everything out there (teen rebellion! police! movies! politics! north pole! south pole! republic city!) and see what sticks, and then actually figuring out a plot in the last half.
Nicee
honestly I like way more the original avatar
eh there both awesome. The one thing i hate was the last airbender the movie. It sucked
Did anyone else get the feeling that korra's father and jinora where originally meant to die and that it was later reedited for a happier ending?
Yah
It would make for a more powerful ending but The way book 2 ended it was about fresh starts and if they died they would have to deal with the consequences in book 3.. and there wouldn't be time for all that emotional baggage.
I'm not complaining..given all the crap out there i'll take anything i can get.Beware The Batman…what a disaster.I hope they burn all records of that season and toss the ashes into the abyss.Oh and more scenes for rufio in book 3!!! http://img.pandawhale.com/36082-rufio-gif-fGdN.jpeg
oooh ima have to watch this and check in on xiaolin chronicles here they released a sequel after like 7 years loved that show as a kid
darn missed the last few episodes
it was okay but she was not that good of a Avatar.
I liked the first season so much better! The equalist revolution was such an amazing timeline! I wish they had expanded it to multiple seasons instead of just one so they could really go in depth. The technology vs bending was amazing. The only thing I didn't like about the season (besides the brevity) was the ending in which the benders come out completely triumphant over non-benders and the subjugation of non-benders by benders continues. Amon had good intentions but wrong way of achieving them. He wanted equality for everyone. A much better ending would have been the equalists and Team Avatar have to team up to defeat a common enemy (Tarlokk?) and Korra shows Amon that equality could be achieved peacefully without the need to take away bending and that benders and non-benders can live in peace. NOW THAT IS HOW TO MAKE AN AWESOME SERIES!
Btw, the absolute best part about Season 2 was Varrick. What. A. Guy.
+Mansur Jugger I agree.
+William Baughman
Ok, on the whole, Book 1 was pretty steady, for me. But then the finale just didn't work. I liked book 2 more because most of the time, the show reminded me of Miyazaki.
Honestly I can't wait for Book 3
Korra isn't winey anymore
The Love Triangle's gone
Mako has character development
I just wanna know the connection between Amon, Tarlock, and Unalaq. There has to be one.
+Sunny Aggarwal Varrick is … an interesting character. Just when you think he's throw-away comic relief, he's running a huge conspiracy to … wait, what was his nefarious purpose again? Was it just to support the Southern Water Tribe against the North? Hmmmmm.
+ernst richards I actually liked (against my expectations) "Beware the Batman". Once you got past the amount that's non-canon, it was good stuff even so.
I was SO in love with this season.
no
the first was much better
I only get a chance to watch it on my days off..but awesome….. way to evolve a reality!!!!
Tldr: Ang is a terrible avatar, he didn't even guide Korra or advice her about the most important event in their world…
Loved this season. I think Nick has bought two more books.
What would you have him do? Hold her hand and walk her there?
+Dave Hill Well Varrick's ultimate goal, along with helping the southern water tribe was to make a profit. He wanted to own all the companies that would make a profit from a war like Future Industries along with his own Varrick Industries and then went to any lengths to get the war as big as possible ranging from the innocent mover making to gain public support to the terrible bombing of a building. By getting the United Republic involved he would make even more profit! And then to cover it all up, he puts forward a comical eccentric appearance when he's actually a genius mastermind. Like I said. What a guy!
I really think that Jinura should have a sacrifice like the princess for the Koi fish…. but the 2nd half of season was much better
I agree
(Within my blog, I note that this is currently a +227 post on Google+. Crikey.)
Funny how people blame Korra for being a bad avatar because of the mistakes she makes but the other avatars made big mistakes as well. Go look back on some of those Avatar's histories, each avatar did something bad. I understood what Korra was coming from (being lied to by everyone she trusted) would you be a little pissed too and guess what she grew up after meeting her past life Wan. I loved this season cant' wait for Book 3 looks like traveling the world would be awesome.
+Sherree Alston Certainly Aang made a lot of mistakes in is development. And his immediate predecessors had their own errors of judgment. And, as I've said myself, her self-condemnation for the bad stuff that happens at the very end is not rational.
My problem with Korra is her conveniently teen-aged crankiness, combined with not having a real sense that she's been as restrained as she claims to be (I mean, crikey, she can exercise all four elements and the Avatar power in a fairly casual fashion).
In the first half of book 2, Korra reminds me of my own teenage daughter, who as extended episodes of being a butthead. I thought Korra was a good reflection. Looking forward to book 3.
i really need to start the 2nd book
+Dave Hill when Aang appeared in front of Tenzin it was definitely a hallucination. At that moment, Aang represented the ideal Tenzin was holding himself up to. He escaped the fog by realizing that the true ideal is to live in the moment and realize one's self.
Random thoughts:
1. Character growth. ATLA was full of it. Korra, much less so. This might be one consequence of the more "stand alone" books. Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and of course Aang, each grew and changed. They each became stronger in their own way, and on their own merits. It doesn't seem like all /that/ much is different between Korra now and where she began. Or Mako, Bolin, or Sato. Perhaps character development will improve over the next two books.
2. Tenzin. Ugh. He sets my teeth on edge more than any other character. His outbursts are at least as bad as Korra's. And self-righteous and stubborn.
3. Aang. It's not all Korra's fault. What's an Avatar gotta do to get some help from her past lives? This Huge Threat, comes along every 10,000 years. It's a Big Deal, and the whole reason for the Avatar. Good thing Korra lost her memory and washed ashore where she did, so she would know what's going on. Where's Aang been? He manifested to Korra at the end of Book 1, when she figured out how to touch her spiritual side. And then nothing. If Avatar Roku had been so reticent, Aang would have been doomed. Did he think his job was done? Or were the writers afraid that the fans would want Aang back on a more full time basis if he made more appearances?
I'm glad Aang could help Tenzin out at the end of book 2. But you would think that giving Korra some guidance on Vaatu, especially since Aang was so spiritual, would have been somewhat helpful to the cause.
In fact, it makes me wonder if Korra will miss her past lives. The Avatar State didn't seem to be much of a "power up" for her, and her past lives didn't seem to help her prepare for what was to come. The Avatar State also didn't help her deal with dark spirits, even with the combined knowledge of all those past lives.
Provided the avatar cycle is not broken, perhaps Korra's "legend" is as the founding Avatar of the new avatar cycle, like Wan was the first time around.
4. Was I the only one half expecting to see Koh?
5. Convenient that Korra is no longer the connection to the spirit world, since she can't even project herself into the spirit world without help. Her strength is in the physical world. But given her difficulties with the spiritual, how's she going to cope with any problems that arise with spirits roaming the physical realm?
+Dave Hill if Vatu was in Rava, the light in the dark, then I can only assume that Rava is now part of Vatu. This would implie that the next book will include an inner struggle for Korra. All previous Avatars were only Vatu. What happens when the Avatar is both good and evil?
+Paul Hancock Agree on pretty much all of your points. Korra's character growth has been from "cranky and self-center" to "cranky and service-oriented" to "no longer remembers why she was so cranky, but feels bad about it". And, yes, the other avatars didn't really do much to help Korra out, even during the crisis.
And the Google Plus thread caps out at +243. Wow.