OA: Chuck does Avatar

[Ahriman238]

Last parts up.

As far as restraining people, Katara did alright with ice, and the Dai Lee with their rock glove-things.

[JME2]

Anyway, if the only thing Chuck can critise this far is Korra's 'glassy eyed' stare its doing ok. I didn't know it was so controversial. I love Korra aside from the ending.

Keep in mind that TLOK was planned as 12-episode mini-series. They had to structure a beginning, middle, and end for Korra's story.

The pickup for additional episodes came late in the game and I agree it's put them in an awkward position from a narrative perspective.

At the same time, the post-Book 1 fallout has potential as does where Korra herself goes from here.

[Crazedwraith]

Umm... OK. That doesn't really explain why the ending so ridiculously rushed though. To me it feels like a 20 episode Aang season compressed down to 12 episodes.

I don't really mind everything being tied up in a little bow. I do have an issue with all the revelations about Amon and Tarlock, the final confrontation and Korra losing and regaining her bending being done in what two episodes? The power's bit was done in like two minutes.

[Formless]

Oh, the bit about Korra's powers being taken away could still be done in the next season, if you stop to think about it. We see her bend the four elements... BUT we see her do that while in the avatar state. Her powers are restored in theory, and she now has access to the avatar state and Aang's spirit/energy-bending technique. But the writers can still create consequences for having Korra's link to the three elements severed for any length of time. Maybe she can only bend them while in the avatar state until she re-connects herself with her heritage through adventure. Maybe she is still wounded, and she finds the elements more difficult to bend then she did previously-- her firebending goes out at awkward times, rocks feel heavier, etc., and she has to recover over time both physically and spiritually. Maybe something else. Both of those IMO are great story hooks, and play well with Korra's established characteristics. She's used to using the elements as her weapons, but now she can't rely solely on them save for the airbending she ironically had the hardest time connecting to in the first place. The rushed nature of the ending makes it very easy to retcon a "gotcha!" onto the resolution, the same way Aang's chakras were locked at the beginning of Fire despite being brought back from the dead by Checkov's gun at the end of Earth.

[Ahriman238]

On an unrelated note, I really liked the Harrison Bergeron reference. If you've ever read the story the comparison really works for the Equalists.

Mind, in the old series lightning bending was a sign that you were truly a master firebender, I can't really remember anyone outside the line of Sozin doing it. In Republic City, you can give a firebender blue collar wages to do it. Again, much that was the province of ancient masters and hermits seems to have become commonplace, an age of discovery and rediscovery indeed.

In Aang's time, most people believed firebending could only be fueled by anger. That was probably an active hindrance in learning to lightningbend.

On the other hand, Iroh IIRC only actually used lightning once, as a demonstration to Zuko, he actually used the lightning redirect a lot more than actual lightning. So the two people we've seen actually use lightning in a fight are Ozai and Azula, and whatever Iroh says about inner peace and balance, neither of them is exactly the serene and balanced type.

I think it more likely that Zuko's emotional turmoil was simply holding him back than that self-mastery is a strict requirement to bending lightning.

Umm... OK. That doesn't really explain why the ending so ridiculously rushed though. To me it feels like a 20 episode Aang season compressed down to 12 episodes.

I don't really mind everything being tied up in a little bow. I do have an issue with all the revelations about Amon and Tarlock, the final confrontation and Korra losing and regaining her bending being done in what two episodes? The power's bit was done in like two minutes.

Well, it was ridiculously rushed. Which is what happens when you get a dozen episodes and don't if there'll be a second season. Under the constraints they have, with everything they were trying to accomplish, I think they did alright.

I admit I'm much more interested in seeing Korra growing into the role of Avatar, and likely having to deal with the 'bridge to the spirit world' aspect of the job then I am in watching an arc about her bending still being messed up. As something for the first two or three episodes it could work though. Then again, I still haven't completely given up on Amon returning as a villain, either because he survived the explosion (a longshot, granted) or his ghost menacing Korra/Republic City from the spirit world.

[Crazedwraith]

Well, it was ridiculously rushed. Which is what happens when you get a dozen episodes and don't if there'll be a second season. Under the constraints they have, with everything they were trying to accomplish, I think they did alright.

I admit I'm much more interested in seeing Korra growing into the role of Avatar, and likely having to deal with the 'bridge to the spirit world' aspect of the job then I am in watching an arc about her bending still being messed up. As something for the first two or three episodes it could work though. Then again, I still haven't completely given up on Amon returning as a villain, either because he survived the explosion (a longshot, granted) or his ghost menacing Korra/Republic City from the spirit world.

Unless they really did plan a 20 episode season and had to cut it back. It still doesn't cut it for me as an excuse. Sure you've only got 12 episodes but if you know you're only going to have 12 episodes then you should plan enough material to fill it and no more. If you want to do something and don't have time. The trick is sadly to not include it. Not half arse an ultra rushed version of it.

I too am interested in seeing Korra as a fully realised Avatar. Something we didn't really see with Aang. Though I guess it would be easy for the the writers to throw a curve ball and not go there yet with Korra. Even without the spiritual side. She's now shown she had the ability to air bend. Not that she's completely mastered the element. (don't you have to create a new move to do that? Like Aang did with the air scooter?)

Chuck touched on this but I think some of the reason Korra had trouble with air. Is that although she's a water tribe girl. Her attitude is very earth benderey. The language chuck uses to describe her; the 'head on approach' is almost exactly what Toph said earthbending was about to Aang when she first taught him. And the earth/air opposite thing makes it hard for her to learn.

[Ahriman238]

Korra needed, maybe still needs, to learn to adapt to her situation instead of bulling through all her problems. Airbenders fall back and find another way, Korra doesn't. You'd think she'd have gotten the idea from training with water, which is also very much a 'path of least resistance' element.

Though, I have noticed that while Korra uses waterbending in the arena, she almost always opens with fire and earth in a serious fight, and generally sticks to them. The only time I remember her using waterbending in an actual fight is when a Triad goon threw some at her, and the naval battle. Interesting choices for a Water Tribe girl.

Aang had the opposite problem, he had to learn to face problems head on instead of trying to cheat at or finesse them, or out-and-out running away from them. I think I remember a one-off line about Roku having trouble mastering water, which makes me wonder if every Avatar doesn't have a problem element that just takes a while to click.

[Koolaidkirby]

don't you have to create a new move to do that? Like Aang did with the air scooter?

to "master" airbending you had to master a certain set of techniques (around 40 iirc), Aang never mastered the last one but was given his tatoos because he invented a new one instead

[Zor]

Do we actually have any evidence that the entire police force were metalbenders?
The cop chasing Korra out of the park, for example, didn't seem to be one.

We have no evidence that the entire police force is metal benders, but we have excellent evidence that the police blimps house metal benders to act as a rapid reaction force whenever crime gets out of hand. Further thanks to fan checking some of the water benders in the task force are later seen in the police building later. Which leads me to believe that metal benders are the Avatarverse equivalent of SWAT.

They said that was pretty much the case on the Legend of Korra website, that Metalbending cops were an elite branch of the republic city police force.

Zor

[Lord Revan]

don't you have to create a new move to do that? Like Aang did with the air scooter?

to "master" airbending you had to master a certain set of techniques (around 40 iirc), Aang never mastered the last one but was given his tatoos because he invented a new one instead

I got a feeling that reason why Aang was given the tattoos after making up a new move was that he proved his mastery with air beinding that way and it would have been redundant to demand him to also prove mastery for the techniques