Board 8 > watching Avatar: The Legend of Korra - Long Live the Queen [spoilers]

(+) Yeah! (+)

thanks! topic was gonna purge otherwise and i was too sleepy/pissed off to bump it
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is that a good sign?
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only if you want this topic to continue
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KORRA - Season 4, Episode 5

Recap: Kuvira arrives at Zaofu with her army, and negotiations with Su Yin go nowhere. Bolin and Varrick try to flee when they discover that Kuvira is f***ing nuts, but they're recaptured after a chase, and Zhu Li apparently betrays Varrick. Korra arrives as well, but she's unable to make peace like an Avatar - and she finds that Su Yin has gone commando.

s***'s hitting the fan now.

Varrick is being pushed form his amoral space very clearly into 'good guy' territory due to just how evil Kuvira is - which I guess is okay. He's not nice, but he also probably doesn't want WMDs shredding the kingdom so that no one can do business anymore. So for now he's a good guy.

Where do Zhu Li's loyalties lie? I love the ambiguity there! It's unclear why she was ever devoted to Varrick the way she was - this episode seems to imply that she's secretly in love with him. Her statement is that she admires Varrick's mind, but that Kuvira has impressed her beyond that. (Possible, but Kuvira demonstrates not intellect, but ambition and strength - which, hey, Zhu Li might also find hot.) There's certainly a chance that she's still secretly on Varrick's team - only turning heel when backed into a corner - but Seasons 3 and 4 have both featured Zhu Li evincing disgust at Varrick that wasn't present in Season 2, so this might have legit been set up. And that makes me sad because Zhu Li X Varrick (or Kuvira x Varrick) is OTP. Zhu Li x Kuvira could work, though. 'Guards, do the thing!'

As usual, any question of whether Kuvira is completely evil goes out the window here. It's not enough that she wants to develop WMDs. Bolin wants to shut his eyes to the negative effects of Kuvira's imperialism, talking about the improvements that have been brought to the lives of the conquered, but Opal claims that life sucks for them... and Kuvira makes no claim otherwise. Will we the viewers get to witness it, or will it remain tell-not-show?

Kinda interesting watching this, considering that by and large, the current dominant military imperalistic power is the US of f***ing A. We developed WMDs, we are the only country that has deployed WMDs, and we made life hell for a lot of countries with less military might. And we don't really look at or talk about that, choosing not to be in the 'inner circle' that Bolin realizes he's not capable of handling. Wouldn't expect a Nickolodeon cartoon - which can't even kill a minor good guy like Korra's pop - to be implicitly critical of the USA.

That said: I don't think we're meant to cheer Su Yin on in her attempt to assassinate Kuvira. It's a smart political move (in the short term at least) to protect Zaofu - but in so doing, it could throw the Earth Kingdom even further into chaos, and it will only increase paranoia as two leaders are assassinated in short order. In order for this to work, Kuvira has to be beaten either like the way Ozai was (by the Avatar, and with a stable heir) or the way Amon was (i.e. her supporters abandoning her).

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* Show is still recovering from Meelonoma, but it looks like he should vanish next episode.

* Weight is measured in Zhu Lis, while energy is measured in Varricks.

* One hint we shouldn't be rooting for Su Yin: that her plea to Korra is one of force: to demolish Kuvira immediately. Hopefully I'm not wrong here.

* Awesome visual storytelling: Korra attempts to reason with Kuvira, only to meet a literal line in the sand.

* Not sure what's up with Asami and Pop, but I appreciate the short story.
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Toph is the reason to keep watching, tbh. There's no one else present in the current storyline willing to wipe the floor with the Avatar and finally get her to listen. One of the main reasons I never liked Korra as a character, she has little respect for others.
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I just remembered how good the fights in the later episodes are
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toph was way better than expected
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Up
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thanks matey - have a writeup

KORRA - Season 4, Episode 6

Recap: Varrick sets into motion a suicidal plan to divorce himself of the WMD research, but Su's son figures out enough to continue the research without him. Kuvira captures Su Yin, defeats Avatar Korra in single combat, and takes over Zaofu.

Kuvira is so freaking awesome.

Su Yin puts on the mask and really starts to head in. You can hear the CODEC telling her that Su Yin, this is a Sneaking Mission. BOOM PHISHED BY A BODY DOUBLE SIT YA ASS DOWN.

Kuvira also absolutely shreds Korra before Korra goes Avatar State, and she enjoys it so damn much. Just an undeniably s***-eating grin as she bobs and weaves against Korra's blasts. The martial arts of TLoK seem to be heavily influenced by boxing - lots of high guards and evasive movement, and Kuvira in particular fights really well going backward, like a Muhammad Ali type. It's enough to remind us that due to her durability, it's arguable that Korra's biggest skill in a fight is taking a beating while staying conscious. It's certainly on display here!

Varrick is f***ing nuts, and the show is way better for that, too. 'You couldn't discover a wolf-bat if it was building a nest in your butt!' / 'Oooooh!!!' Bolin adds. / 'You're pathetic! Wolf bats don't build nests.' / 'Oof, you got me there, Dr. Science. You'll never know what it's like to give birth to genius only to have it KIDNAPPED and raised by fools!' Better yet: 'People will say hey, what happened to that guy? Oh, he Varrick'd himself because some girl ZHU LI'D him!' Or how about the fact that he has a timer AND a remote?! Indeed, 'That man was crazier than a sewer pipe elephant rat.'

The one thing that really soured me here: two Airbenders holding off an entire vanguard to protect Korra until she can escape on an air bison that an entire army leaves unscathed. They're literally standing on rock against an Earth Nation Army during this. This is insanely unnecessary, as Kuvira winds up taking Zaofu anyway - a comment about 'Let her walk away with her tail between her legs' solves the issue of Korra going away much easier without trivializing (ONCE AGAIN!) the Earth Nation's might.

If Kuvira really is Metalbending Hitler, then I suppose Korra was Neville Chamberlain? She legit tried to let Kuvira take over Zaofu. That said, we'll finally now get to see the aftermath in territories that Kuvira occupies. It's been built up too much now that Kuvira's not just evil because she seized power, but because the smallfolk don't like her - if we don't see why, it'll be a serious failing of the show.

Suddenly, just typing that, I realized that we haven't seen Wu in a while. HYPE.

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* A little sad that Su Yin, by failing so spectacularly and so early, is basically absolved of blame for trying to assassinate her opponent's leader. The show doesn't exactly side with her explicitly, either, though. Oh well.

* My favorite Kuvira creativity move: slapping metal cuffs onto two ends of Korra's body... and then using them to spin the Avatar like a windmill.

* Korra seeing the savage Avatar Korra face on Kuvira is pretty thrilling.

* One minor complaint about the fight choreography: Kuvira spends most of the fight at a distance, and is clearly capable of using Metalbending to kill Korra. So why does she wind up giving up that advantage by coming close to deliver the finishing blow? It's pretty transparently because that gives the most dramatic rise for Korra when she goes Avatar State. Kind of lazy, but I'm not complainin too much in an otherwise amazing fight scene.

* ARTISTIC KID COMES BACK. First he's instructing art; then he's getting dragged off and arrested rather than bending the knee. 'Get your hands off me! You're crushing my individuality!'

* 'MMMM YESSS HAHAHAHA! YOU DID IT BOLIN! YOU DID THE THING!' The Dream Team.
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minor dilemma - i'm going out of town at the end of this week (sunday) and might not finish the series at my current pace

is anyone willing to take responsibility for bumping the topic from sunday 1/29 to 2/7? if not, i'll just archive this topic and start anew then
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It's so small but I actually really like how the non bending artist brother stands by the rest of his family. He can't help like his other brothers that went on the assassination mission, but he's still not giving that a****** Baatar Jr what he wants.
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Yes! That's definitely part of why I felt the need to include him - the guy acts kinda wimpy, but he's got strong intestinal fortitude.
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Bolin and Varrick are true bros.
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Kuvira weaponizing her outfit is so good
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kuvira in general is so good - the woman is absolutely crazy

suggests that korra use the avatar state when there's no way kuvira could have expected not to get her ass kicked (and indeed, she's laid out by the first two strikes)

and when she's fighting korra she's got that psychotic cocky grin

legit feels like vegeta or something
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I'm gonna bump it

bump this topic just like Toph bumped Korra around!
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KORRA - Season 4, Episode 7

Recap: Korra returns to Republic City to warn about Kuvira's Earth Empire takeover, reuniting with Tenzin, Asami, and Mako - and also Wu. The Prince is captured by Kuvira loyalists, but Korra is able to rescue him using her new SPIRIT TRACKIN' powers. Unfortunately, Kuvira's plan to harness Spirit Vines involves chopping down the spirit trees - starting at the Swamp. Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick fall in with some refugees of the Earth Empire, which has begun ethnic purging.

The two most notable forces in this episode are the two deflated egomaniacs who struggle with becoming a load. Their rehabilitation is going to be key in endgame of the season.

Varrick is outwardly downtrodden - he's happy to let Bolin carry him or even just dump him off to die. The only pomp he's able to muster? Snapping at his captors that he wasn't a lowly servant of Kuvira, but rather that he was in her inner circle. It's a miserable sort of missing the point, the type that condemns him to further suffering. Yet Bolin pushes him to action, reminding Varrick that he has to atone for the WMDs he's helped to develop. And by the end of the episode, Varrick has rescued the persecuted citizens.

The other recovering narcissist - Wu. His ego is less obviously damaged, as he demonstrates his typical unawareness coming hard onto Korra. The moment she shuts him down, though - 'Can you pop into the Avatar State for me? I wanna see your eyes go all glowy!' / 'What? No.' - you can see in his bashfulness that he knows that he's not the same dude he once thought he was. It's comical how easily Wu gets captured the moment Mako doesn't accompany him just this once to the bathroom. But that's how it's gonna be - even staking no further claim to the Earth Kingdom's throne, Wu's bloodline will put a target on his back.

The other awesome part about this episode: the (admittedly incomplete) view we get of the smallfolk. The man that Korra captures and interrogates in pursuit of Wu swears that he's doing it just to gain Kuvira's favor. And he has a super-creepy, fanatical grin as he does so. While I wish that the show were a little more explicit about it, it's hard to infer the reasons she's popular: she's hot, she's badass, she takes no s***, she represents strength... and as we find out, she's advancing a form of Earth Kingdom ethnic nationalism, as well.

Suddenly, the Hufflepuff nature of the Earth Kingdom's people is taking a darker turn. They're the greatest nation by mass and population, yet they've seemingly always been stepped on. They suffered decadent and clueless monarchs, losing them to political upheaval and assassination, and learned to distrust both the government and themselves. You can see why they can see the appeal in the power Kuvira offers - and the apparent scapegoating of ethnic minorities. My first thought is that that's an extremely stupid way to make enemies... but realistically, it's a disturbingly effective way to gain allies. It's incredibly discomforting when you compare it to real life.

It's going to be a moot point, but I want to hear more from Kuvira sympathizers who aren't obvious villains. I don't want to speak for them; I want them to articulate what makes her great to me. But at this point, it probably doesn't matter anymore. They can no longer be reasoned with, as one look into those eyes of zealotry will tell you.

The Ozai parallels are delicious here. I'm too scared to say anything else in fear of jinxing it. Let's rock.
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* Korra with dat blush when Asami compliments her hair. Korra x Asami approaching canon territory tbqh.

* Wu comforts Mako by telling him that Korra didn't write to Wu, either. 'What? Why would she write - NEVER MIND.'

* That chase sequence is generally really good. You rarely see defense bending during a chase, so that was freaking awesome when they pulled that escape. But then Korra uses THEM NEW SPIRITUAL SKILLS. It ends on a train top, because OF COURSE IT DOES. That's just as good a setting as a chase gets. And as for the beginning of it - Korra noticing a laundry guy just pushing his cart - is there any better example of HER AVATAR SENSES TINGLING?

* Korra, on Toph: 'Slightly more miserable version of Lin.'

* Grandma Mako is back! And she loves royalty just as much as before! What a happy ending for her.
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tough crowd today
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we're all waiting I guess
for something dreaded
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Hype
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Is this when we get to bash Nick?

for 66 % yes
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Your friendly neighborhood avatar. soon Korra will be facing giant alligators and mans with several robot arms.
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what just happened itt
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KORRA - Season 4, Episode 8

Recap: Mako tells Wu about his love life, Korra vents to Asami about the enemies she's faced, and Varrick reminds us that truth ought never to get in the way of story.

Okay, so clip shows are generally bad news. Historically, this type of episode is just bad - extremely limited original content, and the scenes referenced are even worse when they represent scenes you view in recent weeks rather than years ago.

That said, given its limitations, this is a really solid clip show episode! Korra and Asami have the only useless segment, and it's by far the shortest. Mako's love life works because it's inherently funny - Mako is at his best when pushed hard out of his element, so it's great to see him telling stories about his awkwardness and having to defend himself when he's been called out for being a playa. (Wu tells Mako that with Asami, he should work on his introductions. Mako points out that you don't need introductions when you got his CHARM.) The best editing trick: a montage of all of Korra's 'WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON' moments. The story is also gigantically bolstered by the presence of Mako's family - it's good enough when Mako an Wu's cartoon heads are commentating on the situation, but add Grandma and the Cuz, and it's utterly fantastic.

And yeah, Varrick's at his best here. My absolute favorite gag here about the FOUR SUPERVILLAINS uniting. How are they supposed to communicate? Insert the PARTY LINE shot, where badly drawn phone lines are edited onto shots of them speaking! It's phenomenal. Saying that Korrazilla is actually Super-Bolin is probably the second-best blatant lie. But overall it's just a tremendous dose of Varrick in the best way, with the additional sweet touch that Bolin's attempt to tell a straight-up story gets BURIED.

The episode isn't exactly The Ember Island Players (grim thought: it's positioned exactly where EIP was in TLA... about four episodes from the end... is the next episode the first of many parts of the finale?!), but damned if it isn't a fun recap all the same.

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* Forgot my notes, but I loved this episode.
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If I remember right, the showrunners had run out of money one episode short, so they had a choice of either making one less episode or making a clip show. They opted for the clip show, and it was worth it because it gave us this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Y-MfZliTw
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Poor diabolical but incredibly boring and unpopular sorcerer

and hee
zombie amon
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it wasn't that they ran out of money early, it was that Nick straight-up gave them less money than originally promised
http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/103173899927/a-few-preemptive-words-about-episode-408
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nick'el and dimed
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htaeD posted...

Poor diabolical but incredibly boring and unpopular sorcerer

Oh, this is the reason I wish I hadn't forgotten my notes. Best line ever. Also, 'the evil Unalaq - who has always been an annoying, but clean person' ...
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Nick spent the entire run of Korra trying to kill it.they would greenlight seasons one by one to prevent the writers from telling one continuous story. They would randomly change the timeslots and then not advertise it so the kids would miss it. They decided to make it online-only in the middle of S3 and then aired it on TV anyway after it was over.

Some higher up there wanted really hard to kill it, but couldn't because it was super popular among teenagers and young adults, so they tried to sabotage it instead. This sudden budget cut was just the last straw.

All things considered, the writers pulled a miracle with the hand they were given.

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Nick spent the entire run of Korra trying to kill it.they would greenlight seasons one by one to prevent the writers from telling one continuous story. They would randomly change the timeslots and then not advertise it so the kids would miss it. They decided to make it online-only in the middle of S3 and then aired it on TV anyway after it was over.

Some higher up there wanted really hard to kill it, but couldn't because it was super popular among teenagers and young adults, so they tried to sabotage it instead. This sudden budget cut was just the last straw.

All things considered, the writers pulled a miracle with the hand they were given.

Wow that sounds messed. Is there a reason why they wanted to do that?
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BlackDra90n posted...

ZeldaTPLink posted...

Nick spent the entire run of Korra trying to kill it.they would greenlight seasons one by one to prevent the writers from telling one continuous story. They would randomly change the timeslots and then not advertise it so the kids would miss it. They decided to make it online-only in the middle of S3 and then aired it on TV anyway after it was over.

Some higher up there wanted really hard to kill it, but couldn't because it was super popular among teenagers and young adults, so they tried to sabotage it instead. This sudden budget cut was just the last straw.

All things considered, the writers pulled a miracle with the hand they were given.

Wow that sounds messed. Is there a reason why they wanted to do that?

it's because iCarly didn't make it into Korra.
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according to wiki:

The Legend of Korra was initially conceived as a twelve-episode miniseries. Nickelodeon declined the creators' pitch for an Avatar: The Last Airbender follow-up animated movie based on what then became the three-part comics The Promise, The Search and The Rift, choosing instead to expand Korra to 26 episodes.[3] The series was expanded further in July 2012 to 52 episodes.

Which makes sense - there are obvious hooks from the ends of Seasons 2 and 3 for the subsequent season - spirits being reintegrated into the world, Korra's paralysis, the Earth Kingdom in disarray.

Now the budget thing does seem real.
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BlackDra90n posted...

Wow that sounds messed. Is there a reason why they wanted to do that?

The usually reason for these kinds of shows I imagine. It didn't sell toys and didn't appeal to the demo their toy sponsors want.
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Hmm, maybe TLoK probably appealed more to the 13-to-16-year-old demographic, who are probably less likely to be asking for action figures or whatever than 6-to-12-year-olds?
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SeabassDebeste posted...

Hmm, maybe TLoK probably appealed more to the 13-to-16-year-old demographic, who are probably less likely to be asking for action figures or whatever than 6-to-12-year-olds?

Yeah Korra was successful with the people who were in the right age range for A:TLA which meant they were no longer in the right age range for a kid's cartoon.

I am hoping this means we end up getting another Avatar series aimed at adults.
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profDEADPOOL posted...

I am hoping this means we end up getting another Avatar series aimed at adults.

I mean, that's Korra, there were a LOT of adults in the show
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thanks for the bump!
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foolm0r0n posted...

profDEADPOOL posted...

I am hoping this means we end up getting another Avatar series aimed at adults.

I mean, that's Korra, there were a LOT of adults in the show

Notably, Korra herself is now an adult. She started at sixteen-ish and about 4 years have passed in universe, right?

There are some pretty clearly kid-friendly moves the show still makes (occasionally hiding from death, MEELO) but I'm not sure I'd want ASOIAF/"adult" stuff like rape and beheading everywhere in this canon.
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She was 17 at the start
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Barely legal single avatars near you (LennyFace)
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hell yeah for free wifi at airports
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previously on bumpvatar...
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thanks!
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meanwhile
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on hiatusavatar, the bumplegend of breakorra