Avatar: The Last Airbender + Legend of Korra

If you could choose what kind of Bender you'd be. What element would you choose?

  • Waterbender

    Votes: 20 29.9%

  • Earthbender

    Votes: 13 19.4%

  • Firebender

    Votes: 22 32.8%

  • Airbender

    Votes: 10 14.9%

  • Non-Bender

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • Total voters
    67
Mario4Ever said:
At least on AvatarSpirit, people aren't so much denying it as disliking it because it, to them, didn't have the establishment that Katara and Aang's relationship had
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That's silly though. Aang and Katara didn't get that much establishment either. For the majority of the series, it was just Aang having the hots for Katara and Katara generally being oblivious to it safe for one fleeting moment in the fortune teller episode and one time when they were essentially forced to kiss because they thought it's the only way out of a cave. Then Aang briefly kissed Katara before the invasion, but they weren't a couple afterwards and Katara (much later) outright says she is unsure about whether their relationship actually exists or not. They do get together at the very end, but idk, I have trouble seeing the chemistry between them. It's mostly just Aang being affectionate, and Katara being "I don't know" or "ok, why not".

Asami and Korra on the other hand have had great chemistry throughout season 3 and 4. Not only do they get along very well, but it is also very telling that Asami is the only one Korra wrote to during her absence. I have a much easier time believing Asami and Korra than I had with Aang and Katara. And I'd wager if Nick hadn't bullshitted around so much and just greenlit four seasons right from the start instead of subjecting the creators to this cockamamy hootenanny of cancelling and uncancelling the series and whatnot, their writing in that regard would have been even stronger.
 
^Per.

Kataang also seemed like a cliche "the leads end up together" foregone conclusion (once they torpedoed the Zutara stuff they brought in to tease the fans). Korrasami on the other hand came about after they smartly torpedoed the cliche of Makorra, and it was much better written - I'd even suggest it's largely because they had to write around the censors, making the face of the relationship that of the strong bond they forged in Season 3 getting stronger, rather than having romance shoehorned into a platonic (or one-sided) youth friendship, with the subtle/blatant-but-ambiguous-enough-to-get-away-with-it stuff they did throw in feeling completely natural, unlike Kataang which always struck me as awkward and only happening because it was supposed to happen. Hell, Korrasami was about as far from a "by the books" relationship as you can get, not only because it's a nuanced, same-sex pairing between adults in a "kids" show, but because it was done in direct response to the fandom. Overall, it's just a great example of writing in the modern era.

As for the 42 or so minutes that came before that ending scene...

It was all pretty great too. The colossus battle reminded me alternatively of Pacific Rim and Bokurano: if Season 2 took cues from Miyazaki's works, I'd love to know what anime or other works they did look to for this sequence. Varrick suddenly proposing to Zhu Li seemed a bit last-minute-hook-up-ey for me, but at least they had actual chemistry and a long, if not romantic, history together, and they're likeable characters, so I wasn't unhappy to see them married at all. Importance was spread out evenly amongst the supporting cast for the most part, with Korra, Mako and Bolin rightly getting top billing; would've liked to see more of Asami, but I suppose she still played her pivotal parts in the lead up to the showdown in the colossus. Wu continues to not be useless, Meelo gets some good parts too while Jinora is refreshingly non-pivotal this time out, and the Beifong sisters continue to kick ass.

It's interesting that Hiroshi was brought in and killed off, but I suppose it was better than killing Tenzen or something, and now I understand why Asami got that earlier episode to reconcile with him: it seemed episodic at the time, just to give her something to do, bu nope, turns out it was for a story arc too. The weakest arc of the season, mind you, since it came into play all of twice, but it did what it was it was supposed to do, so w/e. Also, I kinda wonder if it would have been possible to metalbend the non-platinum stuff inside the colossus from the outside, bloodbending-style, but perhaps the shell prevented that somehow, idk - either way, the mosquito solution was clever and the sequence inside the colossus was as excellent as the exterior battles (Kuvira using mercury or some other sort of metal liquid was a nice touch of evil, topped only by the fact that Korra didn't get triggered at all by it).

I liked the final struggle in the spirit wilds too - it makes sense that Kuvira wouldn't give up so easily, but I'm glad she didn't go full Azula, and did try to stop the weapon when she realized she'd made a big mistake. Then how the fight ultimately ended was perfect: a one-on-one fight and flashy energybending like A:TLA, only done in defence of the villain rather than against her, reflecting how the situation (and indeed, the show itself) is much more complex than simply taking down the big bad. Then finally, Korra and Kuvira's talk in the spirit flowers was a satisfying conclusion to the conflict, and bonus points for once again being carried by two strong female characters.

When A:TLoK started, I was pissed that we were getting some new thing instead of the originally planned 4-season arc of A:TLA, but all in all, I feel like losing a year of A:TLA was a small price to pay for gaining the awesome show that A:TLoK has proven itself to be.

Shoutmon said:
well, if it makes you feel any better, the fact that you said so saved me from doing the same thing
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That's the whole reason why I posted :3
 
well it's nice to see that all of the korrassami teasing at least went somewhere, even if they didn't kiss. maybe they just couldn't get it past the censors

the episode felt kinda underwhelming considering it's the last one of the whole show; it just felt like another season finale. i mean, there was no way they could match up the the giant scale of season 2's finale or the sheer epicness of... any of avatar's season finales, really, so i'm not really surprised. they put up a good effort, anyway.
 
Walkazo said:
When A:TLoK started, I was pissed that we were getting some new thing instead of the originally planned 4-season arc of A:TLA, but all in all, I feel like losing a year of A:TLA was a small price to pay for gaining the awesome show that A:TLoK has proven itself to be.
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wait, A:TLA was supposed to be 4 seasons? i never knew this
 
Nabber said:
i mean, there was no way they could match up the the giant scale of season 2's finale
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If I am completely honest, I thought this finale was great, whereas the season 2 finale put me to sleep. I'm most likely being unfair because I pretty much disliked the majority of that season, so by the time the finale came up I was worn out and just wanted it to end already. I don't know to what extent that clouded my judgment. I did genuinely think the thing felt too deus ex machina-y though.

With the season 4 finale though I felt invested the whole time, maybe minus the part where
Meelo suddenly has an idea and everyone just went along with the whims of a nutty kid whose previous exploits of tactical genius involved throwing all of his companions food away and poisoning himself with wild berries. That felt a bit like a borderline suicidal move, but it wasn't TOO bad either.
Everything else was very satisfying and thrilling.

I don't really understand how it feeling like a season finale is a bad thing though. It IS a season finale, it wraps up all of the major loose ends, and it stands strong enough to conclude the series.
 
Honestly, my only real gripe with the finale was that Tenzin did pretty much nothing. He was one of my favorite characters and I feel like he could've done more. Everything else was top notch.

There also wasn't a super Deus Ex Machina like Season 2.
 
i'm not saying season 2's finale was better, it just had a larger scale than this. it feels hard to match the stakes

i wasn't really paying attention for most of this episode anyway

i still don't get the point of wu's character, though
 
This felt like it was on a grander scale. Sure Unavaatu looked cool, but what did he actually end up doing? Making a bunch of vines. The Colossus annihilated Republic City.

I will admit the destroying of the past lives was pretty intense.
 
GalacticPetey said:
This felt like it was on a grander scale. Sure Unavaatu looked cool, but what did he actually end up doing? Making a bunch of vines. The Colossus annihilated Republic City.

I will admit the destroying of the past lives was pretty intense.
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plus the whole world was at stake. and yeah, it's hard not to get psyched up about two giant people duking it out

when korra disappeared in this episode i kinda thought that she'd just be dead and the avatar spirit would be destroyed completely
 
While the stakes may have been higher, I feel like Kuvira accomplished more. She successfully took over the entire Earth Kingdom and became a dictator. Unalaq had even greater ambitions but he never succeeded in any of them. I felt there was more tension with Kuvira because we knew what she was capable of.
 
He succeeded in rekindling the connection to the spirit world lost when Wan fucked up
 
I won't say too much on the episode itself.

But I just want to say something about the series in general a little bit. The show has had it's ups and downs, and overall I don't think it ever captured everything that made Avatar: The Last Airbender so great. But when it hit it's stride like it did in the series finale and the backstory episode about the first avatar just to name a few. It definitely hit some really high points that could stand up to some of the best moments of A:TLA for sure.

So even though I'd still say that A:TLA is the overall better series, I don't mean any disrespect to Korra by any means because it still brought us more of the world that we loved in the original. It had some missed potential in alot of areas, and some cringeworthy part of the series such as the Love Triangle, most of the fart or childish jokes that Meelo, and other parts of the series that unfortunately drag the series down. But for all of that, I can't say I'm disappointed this was made. It was great meeting some new characters, seeing the return of some of the old, inventive ideas, seeing how the world grew many years after the events of the original series, etc. I'm glad I followed it to the very end. And it was a nice ride while it lasted.

Thank you Bryke, not everything in Korra went all that perfect. But I am nonetheless thankful for bringing us another story within the world I've enjoyed seeing since I first saw Sokka and Katara free Aang from the Iceburg for the first time. Thank you.
 
And to anyone doubting the ending was implying anything other than you know what, take a gander.

EkVI17D.png


One of the co-creators himself reblogged that article.
 
I've got to say, for someone who never got into the shipping thing, the Korrasami kinda surprised me. But I guess they're a couple now. Good for them. I don't know why they decided to screw the whole Korra/Mako thing, considering Season 1 implied they were THE couple. Ah, well. People change their mind.

I LOVED that battle. Everyone using their abilities in creative ways, Kuvira just being awesome, and everyone getting cool moments. Sure, some people didn't get their own moments, like Tenzin and Jinora, but when the cast was that big, it was bound to happen.

And I liked how they finished Kuvira. I'm glad she apologised. Before she was getting into cliched evil villain territory, so I'm glad they decided she wasn't 100% evil.

While the finale felt more like a finale for Season 4, and not a finale for the series in general, I still think it was a great ending. Varrick and Jhu Li's wedding! Very cute. Don't know why Bolin is now a legal celebrant, but whatever.
 
Purple Yoshi said:
considering Season 1 implied they were THE couple
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tbh, I prefer how it turned out

when you're young you always think THIS one is going to be THE one, and the show reflected that realistically- teenage romance ends because of dumb shit, strained relationship tries to continue, fails because of dumb shit, then both parties move onto other people

i think it was an intentional bait and switch on the part of the creator's opposed to kataang's forced otp status from such a young age
 
That ship was pretty much thoroughly sunk in season 2 (and to an extent in season 3). I'm glad too, because it felt very forced.
 
Atsushi Murasakibara said:
I am not 100% sure if it is real as I just read that it is a troll, so idk.
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There's a reply from that anon that says "Just a reminder that anyone can be 'Bryke' if they want," so it probably isn't.
 
Contra(dictory) said:
Purple Yoshi said:
considering Season 1 implied they were THE couple
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tbh, I prefer how it turned out

when you're young you always think THIS one is going to be THE one, and the show reflected that realistically- teenage romance ends because of dumb shit, strained relationship tries to continue, fails because of dumb shit, then both parties move onto other people

i think it was an intentional bait and switch on the part of the creator's opposed to kataang's forced otp status from such a young age
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i think they were have gone with makorra (or whatever it's called) if that was more popular with the fandom

i never really minded kataang because it was a pretty small part of the series for the most part
 
Mario4Ever said:
Atsushi Murasakibara said:
I am not 100% sure if it is real as I just read that it is a troll, so idk.
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There's a reply from that anon that says "Just a reminder that anyone can be 'Bryke' if they want," so it probably isn't.
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The fact that they spelled Asami's name wrong is a bit of a red flag too. They also wouldn't make an "official" announcement on some random message board (or wherever that is) - that's like the opposite of official.
 
i was talking to someone today who was saying how she doesn't believe korra and asami were dating, that they were just "really close friends"

it's weird, people really want to deny this
 
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