I would like to talk about a lot of big issues topics that are within Korra and in fact Aang’s series too, but I feel that this would be best done after Book 4 as I am sure we will see conclusions to Korra’s feeling of inadequacy and questioning herself as the Avatar. So I will leave this topic and another bigger topic for after next year’s season but I do want to discuss some other more sudden trends that only really appeared this season, as well as what could possibly happen next year.
The first point I wanted to bring up was the seemingly overpowered villians and even heroes. Compared to Aang’s series and even the first two seasons of Korra, the heroes in this Book, Book 3, seem much more powerful and gifted than ever before. This is usually the case with Shounen anime as in order to keep the series exciting more powerful enemies are made up and eventually it gets over the top. However, unlike most Shounen anime (like DBZ) Korra’s enemies and friends don’t seem unrealistic and out of believability within the universe. There is no power level to compare them to old characters and all their “new” special powers are firmly grounded as possible. First we have P’li who has the same power as Combustion man, so not all that novel. The magma bender Ghazan is something new to the main narrative but we did see flashbacks of past avatars (albeit fire benders) who could bend lava out of a volcano. Likewise Zaheer’s ability is tied all the time to Guru Laghima. Last we have Ming Hua, whose ability to bend water, without moving her arms (as she has none) is not new at all. The only reason she is so powerful as she has learnt to rely on the water for other things (such as driving a car) so she has become more familiar with it and is thus very powerful. Thus I liked how the villians were (arguably) stronger than past villians but their powers did not defy the realms of plausibility with the universe.
I also liked how the villians’ motives went back to being more morally ambigious that Book 2, but I shall discuss this in a later post. However, one character development I did not really care for was Bolin’s. He started off looking promising, as he started to show development with his family ties, love interests and his bending abilities (or lack thereof in not being able to metalbend). However, as the season progressed he has turned into more of a comedy relief figure than anything else, and it is a little upsetting. This was typified in the final two episodes where his development as a lava bending was overshadowed by his obsession with silly bird calls and his relationship with Opal was overshadowed by him pushing Suyin out of the way to hug her. Shounen anime usually have this sort of silly, over the top, humour only character, such as Usopp in One Piece. However the difference is all humour isn’t reliant on this one particular character. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji all have their moments. Admittedly in Korra there was an attempt at humour with Kai, Varrick and the animals but this was about it from outside Bolin. The other main members of Team Avatar show little in the way of comedy. When one character alone is left to provide all the comedy relief that character gets devalued too much. In Aang’s series, yes Sokka was the comedy bringer, but he also had growth because his character did not have to bring all the jokes, Toph was notably very funny too, as was Aang with Katara. However, Bolin has been left to man the ship alone and it is too much, it means his character is not advanced or sympathized with enough. He has become a clown, a disappointing clown.
Another point that The Legend of Korra seems to have missed out on potentially when bringing "the feels" is death. Now The Legend of Korra is much darker than Aang’s series and death is certainly more prominent in new series. The whole struggle for Aang was how he could defeat the fire nation and the Fire Lord without killing him (taking away his bending turned out to be the answer). Korra’s enemies are much more prone to death it seems. Amon and Tarrlok both died in the first season and when Korra defeated and purified Unavaatu she killed Unalaq in the process. I have no problems with these deaths, the same as I have no problems with the deaths of P’li, Ghazan and Mung Hua in the most recent season. I have two problems. First, but least important, is how the deaths are shown. They are usually unclear, such as with Ghazan and Mung Hua, we can only assume they died and did not escape the collapsing cavern and base this on Ghazan saying he never wants to go back to prison. So too when P’li blows herself up the only way we can assume she did so is the smoke in the background and Zaheer’s reaction that allows him to fly (having let go of his last earthly tie). There is no explosion noise or anything. I am not saying we need to see the corpses but the writers could be a little clearer. The same with Amon and Tarrlok’s death/suicide, we can only assume the explosion killed them. It is hard to truly realize if these deaths happen to such extraordinarily tough enemies that can put up such a fight against the Avatar. Compare this to the fairly weak Earth Queen who is killed on camera and then proclaimed by Zaheer to have been killed numerous times.
The second point I want to raise about death and Book 3 of The Legend of Korra is heroic death. We have yet to see a hero die but the amount of times they are saved miraculously. We have Kai shot down by P’li and falls down to his “death", after he tries to distract her as the other airbenders try to escape. However he is caught by a branch and saved by his baby air-bison. Then we have Tenzin who gets the best of Zaheer in their one on one fight, but is injured when P’li, Ghazan and Mung Hua enter the fray. Fairly injured, with one arm out of action and bruises on his face, Tenzin says he will not give up whilst he is still breathing and is then beaten (screaming) even more by Zaheer. Like Kai, Korra’s father is left to fall to his death this time after he pushed over the side (without any water to help him) in his fight with Zaheer. However, Tonraq is caught by Kuvira (who I will talk about soon) and survives to see his daughter again. Could one of these or more have died? Kai probably should not because he is young, a love interest for Jinora and he is needed to find out where Zaheer is keeping the other airbenders. However, in contrast to this both Tenzin and Tonraq are older and the story would have gained much more emotion from having one if not both of them dying. Tenzin dying would have just brought more of Zaheer’s balance, or chaos rather, to the world. It also would have meant that Korra’s feeling of failure would have been much greater and Jinora ascension to airbending master would have been gained a new deeper meaning. So too if Tonraq died the world would have been thrown into more chaos with another world leader dying (Zaheer notably says to greet the Earth Queen for him) and it would have been hugely significant for Korra’s self-esteem if she couldn’t have saved her father. Unless these characters play a main role in the final book then I think either Tenzin and Tonraq (or both of them) should have been killed for greater meaning and a deeper emotion reaction to the final two episodes.
As I said Tonraq is saved not by some random metalbender, but by Kuvira who then introduces herself by name to the audience and the other characters. This is strange as she only does this in the second to last episode of the season, obviously as a set-up for the next Book. This has left a lot of questions open. Who is Kuvira? She is obviously a member of the metal clan as she is seen and talks in other episodes and seems to be close to Suyin, being a high ranking guard of Zaofu and part of Suyin’s dance troupe. So will Kuvira be a villain? Perhaps. Is she part of the Red Lotus? Maybe. Notably there was Red Lotus music playing when she introduced herself. The reason I point out her connection to Suyin is how very good Suyin is. Yes Suyin showed some flaws in her family relationship, especially with her daughter Opal (and keeping her in Zaofu) and obviously with her sister Lin Beifong. However, other than this Suyin has been very good and very supporting of Korra. Compared to Tenzin and Lin, who are always looking to protect Korra from danger and restrict her even as the Avatar, Suyin is very lax about everything and even encourages Korra to go after Zaheer when Lin says they should go back to Republic City. This is not unlike Unalaq who encourages Korra to do dangerous and risky ventures to solve her problems with the spirits when her father Tonraq and Tenzin are against it and want to protect her. Is Suyin going to be the next enemy, and is she in fact part of the Red Lotus? I mean the Red Lotus already have ties to the metal clan with Aiwei. Also in discussing the Earth Queen Suyin says how the Earth Queen is so archaic and how she needs to evolve with the evolving world around her. Suyin doesn’t necessarily say a revolution needs to happen but if we look at her she abandons all the previous lifes (as Toph’s daughter, as a pirate, in the circus etc) she has had in favour for starting a family. This seems sweet unless we realize how Zaheer wanted everyone to just care about themselves and their family. Family love is good, of course, but is Suyin’s a bit too close to Zaheer’s ideal vision for the world? So for the next season it will be interesting to see how Suyin and Kuvira advance. Suyin notably removed the a metal poison from Korra, not Lin. Did she remove
all of it (seeing as Korra is still crippled)? I could be totally wrong and Suyin could just be a good guy and Kuvira could just be a love interest for Mako. Who knows, but Suyin isn’t a flawed mentor like Korra’s other mentors and something is definitely suspicious about Kuvira.
So there we have it. My small analysis of some selected parts of Book 3 of The Legend of Korra. My thoughts overall it was a great season to watch. It definitely was better for me than Book 2 and had many twists and turns. Some points stood out for me, such as the powers of the villains, the deaths of the antagonists and how heroes were kept alive. The end also made me speculate hugely about the next season, unlike other Books which don’t introduce characters right at the end of the season. I am looking forward to Book 4, not only to see how it joins up with these open ending, but also to see how bigger topics are resolved.
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