Amph ATLA and The Legend of Korra (ATLA live action remake coming Feb 2024)

Err, Iroh is still dead (well, his body, at least). He merely chose the Spirit World to be his afterlife (as opposed to whatever afterlife people of Avatarverse normally have).

 

So yeah, I liked that the old Avatars are gone, I liked the portals staying open, and I liked Bolin/Eska.

Beyond that, I don't have the slightest idea what I just watched.

 

Well I know that. But most other people apparently don't have an afterlife where they can still enjoy their favorite activities, retain all their memories, and interact with people (including those who are still alive). I would think more people would choose this option if they were aware of it.

 

Well, it would seem it's not something everyone can do. But we know Iroh had been to the Spirit World before - maybe he figured out that if he went to the Spirit World just before his death (he probably felt it coming), he would be able to retain his memories and everything, while his body eventually died. And I don't mind him being the only one who could do it.

 

Who's to say Iroh can't join the other characters in the material world now? That sounds kinda cool.. especially now that Korra can't get counsel from Aang anymore.

 

I sure as heck don't mind. I can't get enough of the artwork, and I thought the music was great too.

Saw the entirety of the finale last night. Still trying to process some of it, but I did have a few thoughts/observations/comments (spoiler tagged for length and .gif):

Spoiler

*Well, if the original show was (effectively) Star Wars, and season 1 of Korra was Dark Knight Rises, then this was Mass Effect 3 if ME3 didn't get pants-on-head stupid. Hero escapes from invasion, promises to bring back help, goes about trying to gather said help, story has shift in antagonists, and one of the antagonists wants to use the Big Bad to (you guessed it) take over the world.


(I couldn't help myself.)

Bonus points for a light show covering the world and having a "ghost child" in the finale. Heck, even Vaatu was giving me occasional Reaper vibes (voice, attitude, laser sound). Unlike ME3 though, this show was done competently, and I'm genuinely interested in seeing where it goes from here.

That said, the plot for this season feels like it would be better as a series finale, instead of a season finale, and I'm not sure where they could go from here.

*Zhao's cameo was unexpected, but didn't feel out of place. Also kind of liked it.

*Did not expect the season to go all Pacific Rim either. This was made slightly funnier by the fact that I joked that Korra and company were going to be "Cancelling the apocalypse."

*Maybe it was just me, but I found the stuff between Tenzin and Aang, and later by Korra and Tenzin, to be interesting character moments for both of them and how in some way they were similar. Heck, both of those scenes made me think of this part from Babylon 5. (And any show that reminds me of Babylon 5 automatically gets a couple extra points from me )

Tenzin thought of himself as Aang's heir, and had all the baggage that came with. Yes, he is Aang's son, but in that scene he realized that he was more that just that, that he was his own person, and shouldn't try to be Aang 2.0.

Korra though has seen herself as the Avatar and... well, that's about it. She constantly identifies herself as the Avatar, not Korra, or at least uses them as one in the same. Her first line in the series? "I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!" In the second season, when Old Fire Sage Lady (aka Azula, if you believe my headcanon ) asks her "Do you know who you are?" Korra's response was "I'm the Avatar," again, implying that's her only identity.Take that away from her, you take away who she thinks she is. In the nightmare she had back in the first season, Dream!Amon said that without her bending she would be "nothing." What does she say after her bending was taken away? "I'm not the Avatar any more" (and with all that in mind, watch the cliff scene again...) So in hindsight, Amon was more accurate than he probably knew when he said that he would "destroy" Korra.

To tie into the season/book 2 finale, Korra didn't think she could beat UnaVaatu after Raava was removed and killed (temporarily). When Wan was brought up during the talk she had with Tenzin in the tree, he told Korra that Wan was famous for who he was, not what he was. Again, implying, if not out-right stating, that Korra needed to think of herself as more than just the Avatar.

Now, it might sound as if that's bad character writing, but I don't think it is, not when it's put into context. For comparison, Roku and Aang only found out they were the Avatar when they were 16 and 12, respectively. Before then, they were average, ordinary people (okay, Roku did pal around with Sozin, but that was before finding out he was the Avatar) and both had some sort of established life and identity. Korra, though, finds out when she's four years old. After that, she's put into a special remote compound for her training. She's grown up pretty much her whole life knowing she's the Avatar, and it was the only thing she was taught. So yeah, it makes perfect sense that she'd see that as her only identity, and who she was.

If that line is continued in the next two seasons/books, there could be some very interesting character growth for her.

Hopefully some of my rambling there made sense.

 

I guess that makes things lose some of their luster, for me. One of the things I liked about the original TLA series was its (relative) sense of restraint. Yes, Aang was the Avatar, but there were people in every bending discipline more skilled than him. Katara was a deeply talented water bender, but she was by no means the best to have ever existed. It wasn't really a story about unbeatable supermen and peerless legendary heroes. It featured admittedly talented people who had a significant role at a pretty unique moment in history. Saying that this one random guy is the first/only to interact successfully with the Spirit World in 10,000 years of human history is sort of ridiculous, next to that. Especially when/if, as Xalfrea points out, death apparently doesn't mean anything, as he could do all the stuff he could before dying. I'd prefer a more grounded show than that.

 

I think expanding on the spirit world has turned out to be a huge mistake.

 

Excluding "Beginnings" of course.

 

Either she's holding Raava or she's found a way to locate Raava. Because whatever Jinora brought, allowed for Korra to find Raava inside Vaatu.

 

Talk about reliving the worst parts of the show.. And I actually didn't find any of the finale animation/art to be anything special. Lots of light and purple and blue and.. meh.

 

Bless you, Rufftoon.

 

With Book 2 finished, Mike DiMartino gives his thoughts.

http://mikedimartinostory.com/2013/11/25/legend-of-korra-book-2-comes-to-a-close/

 

Everton

Spoiler: Book 3 spoilers from Bryan K.

 

Should that maybe be spoiler tagged?

 

Yeah, Lin sweating! The whole season's ruined now.

 

Funny, Darth Guy, but I agree with Togruta.

 

Too late. I am scarred.

 

There there..

 

That image edit is one of the most absurd edits I've seen on the JC for a very long time. Anyone who considers that image of Lin in Book Three (plus that she'll be in it a lot more) a spoiler has no sense of perspective.

 

Any image of Book Three, regardless of how insignificant it may appear, is a spoiler. Episode titles are spoilers. Announcing a specific voice actor playing a specific role is a spoiler. Anything related to Book Three, that has not yet aired, is a spoiler. So please tag accordingly as the thread has asked. Thank you.