The first half of the season of The Legend of Korra was strong overall, but certainly had its problems as well. One of my main issues with it was the decreasing likability of Korra as she whined, acted rashly, and ultimately made impudent decisions without caring about the consequences. For the first few episodes I attributed this to being true to both character and reality. Unlike Aang, Korra's not a child -- she has teenage emotions and hormones and the most important difference between these Avatars is that Korra did not come into power in a time of war. She's had a good life thus far -- family and mentors and the fact is, she's never been tested. Of course she's going to try too hard to prove herself, sometimes falling into the trap of believing she's right, and she's always been headstrong. After a couple episodes though, even my excuses felt thin, and my enjoyment of the show came mostly from other characters, particularly Tenzin and his family.
My other issue with much of Book 2 is that it did feel like a lot of set-up, which played off as boring or heavy-handed exposition. While many of the B-storylines were strong, I found myself waiting until we returned to the main storyline of the imbalanced spirit world and Korra's place within it.
Despite these problems, The Legend of Korra has definitely been on an uptick with amazing episodes, starting with "Beginnings 1 and 2" in which we see the Avatar origin story and meet Wan, the first Avatar. In many ways, Wan was similar to Korra with his tendency to act rashly, and his memories show us how his mistakes lead to the spiritual rift between light and dark spirits, Raava and Vaatu. Wan then had to work to make things right, and in doing so, he takes in the spirit of Raava and they become one. By letting Korra see this all, she gains a deeper understanding of who she is as the Avatar.
In the newest episode, Korra enters the spirit world with the help of Tenzin's daughter Jinora, and the two take on the quest of closing the spirit portal to prevent Vaatu from escaping his tree prison. But the two are quickly separated, and unabled to bend within the spirit world, Korra's fear takes a hold of her. Though she didn't know it at the time, her fears become her reality within the spirit world, and her helplessness has her reverted to a small child of around 3 or 4 years of age. Surrounded by darkness and all alone, an unexpected source comes to her rescue:
IROH!
As in, our UNCLE IROH! Original Iroh, with his round belly and tea drinking ways and sage advice. I don't think anyone saw that coming, but from what I've seen in the fandom, absolutely everyone was thrilled by this cameo. Iroh spent time with the de-aged Korra explaining how he chose to live in the spirit world after his time in the physical world was spent, and how her fears and turmoil influence the world around them. In this way, it allowed Korra to realize that she has light within her -- not just from Raava's influence, but from her own spiritual strength and inner peace. She can influence both worlds by maintaining this balance within herself. Because of this, I now believe that Korra's previous behavior and attitude were now very, very deliberate choices by the creators to show her learn what she can achieve not necessarily through force, but through enlightenment as well. It seemed extra appropriate for Iroh to be her guide, as he once helped young Zuko through very similar struggles. It was incredibly reaffirming to see all these aspects tie in together, and made me very inclined to rewatch the original series once again.
On the other side of things, Jinora found herself at Wan Shi Tong's Library, another great callback to the original series. She appeals to the scary owl spirit, and he allows her to stay and read about the Harmonic Convergence and the Spirit Portals. She learns that if both portals are open at the time of convergence, Vaatu would be released from his prison and would be able to wreck both worlds. As she leaves to warn Korra, Unalaq appears with Wan Shi Tong and captures her.
In the climactic showdown, Korra returns to her teenage form and finds her way to the 2nd portal to see Jinora in Unalaq's grasp. He threatens to destroy her soul with the same bending moves we've seen him use on other spirits if Korra refuses to open the portal. Completely caught between a rock and a hard place, Korra opens the portal and Unalaq still double crosses her. Jinora gets taken away by a dark spirit, and just as Korra is about to succumb to Unalaq's power, she is rescued by the dragon bird and awakens in the physical world. Tenzin is there, at first questioning on whether Korra has accomplished her goal, only to realize that his daughter is not waking up and that she's been lost in the spirit world.
"Korra, what happened to my little girl?" Tenzin asks desperately, and her tear-filled expressions speaks volumes, and then the episode ENDS on that heartwrenching cliffhanger. It was beautifully painful and real and once again, I have to give this show major recognition; for any flaws it may have, it has never been untrue to emotion or tried to dumb it down for the younger audience. These themes are universal to the young and old alike: a father's love for her daughter, a young girl's guilt at not being able to protect someone, and making a choice when there are no good ones to be had. Not only this, but the momentum the show has now picked up to carry audiences through to the end promises an amazing and well-deserved climax.
It doesn't matter if this is a cartoon or not, this is storytelling at its finest, and I cannot wait for next week.
Yeah, the first half of the season did drive me insane. I made the same excuses for Korra about her being a Teen and how this is a more modern world with different social settings and not Aang's past where the timing of things were different. But still, the closer we got to 'Beginnings" the more I was up and ready to give up on Korra. I guess irrational is about the only word you can use and didn't even do justice to her attitude and decisions. Again, the whole origin of the Avatar and the Spirit World washed all that bad juju away.
ReplyDeleteThis last episode just hit all the right notes: emotionally and with nostalgia. The show has the past as an advantage in this regard. I also agree with the fact that the series does not have to treat the audience like children and can put on the big boy pants and deliver relevant themes that can captivate a young generation, satisfy a older and growing audience while not having to sacrifice the family, kid factor and humor that we all know and love.
As for baby Korra, well, I just wanted to grab her and cuddle her up. She just looked cute and reminded me of Season one where she acted like a mini Hulk once she discovered her Avatar powers. Anyways, glad I got around to reading this post. Keep them coming.
:)