Korra Discussion Post: 'The Voice in the Night'

[pts]

Who's got THOUGHTS? Perhaps it goes without saying, but there will be Spoilers through Korra episode 4 in the comments.

Comments

[scurrilousrogue]

OMG WE GOT TO SEE OLDER AANG, ZUKO, AND TOPH EEEEEEEE

Also, I am such a suspicious person that when Asami hit Mako on her bike my first thought was that encounter was going to be revealed as having been part of a kind of mafia-trick (i.e. she would look for an excuse to introduce him to her father, he would reel Mako in with an offer of money for the pro-bending tournament and together they would use that debt and guilt to control him in future games so that they could in turn control the betting pools) The more I watched, though, the more I felt like they were legitimately doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, so I'm happy. I actually like the two of them together, though admitting so is probably going to win me a space on the firing wall when the shipping wars get really started.

[pts]

Wait, where was Zuko? I only remember seeing Aang, Sokka, and Toph.

[scurrilousrogue]

...Now that you say that, I think that I may have mistaken Sokka for Zuko. BRAIN FAIL!

[alias_sqbr]

Initial reaction: I hope Asami gets fleshed out into something more interesting, she has potential but so far feels a bit generic and defined by her effect on Mako and Korra rather than having her own separate motivations and character (and imo being secretly evil would not be all that interesting in and of itself). Like the politiccing. Watching episode by episode is killing me (I watched ATLA all at once)

Later reaction: PLEASE PLEASE LET THERE BE AN EXTENDED FLASHBACK TO 40 YEARS AGO. WITH AANG AND TOPH AND EVERYONE. :D :D :D

[pts]

The one-episode-a-week pace is torture, I quite agree.

[aris_tgd]

Yes on Asami so hard. I mean, it's great that we have another female character of the age of our main cast, and that she and Korra are different, and she doesn't seem incompetent or bad, just privileged. But I want more stuff for her!

They're doing a lot of arc stuff at a breakneck pace. I hope we get some time to have more character-focused episodes.

[alias_sqbr]

Me too! I'm rewatching Season 1 at the moment and it's quite a contrast, lots of episodes where basically nothing happens.

The elusive teal deer appears

[pts]

So yeah, wow.

It was really nice to see Korra's haunted reaction to Amon's power; if he's telling the truth about being able to permanently remove bending ability, or if Korra thinks he's telling the truth, that would certainly keep her up at night.

But aside from Korra's entirely understandable fear, I'm confused at the overall response to Amon's threat. Karrluk's proposal to form a "task force" (a term that struck me a strangely anachronistic) makes sense as far as it goes, but Korra returned to Tenzin at the end last episode claiming to have seen a man's bending taken away from him permanently. Wouldn't the logical step be to ascertain whether that was even possible? Wouldn't Aang have left accounts of his conversation with the lion turtle and subsequent mastery of energybending behind for the next avatar to learn from? If the characters believe there's even a modest chance that Amon truly can remove bending ability—a development that strikes at the heart of society in this world—wouldn't their top priority be to understand the nature of that threat, and to then develop some kind of defense or answer to it?

I'm genuinely perplexed that Korra comes back to Tenzen, says "omg this dude can take bending away," and Tenzin's response is basically "That's crazy! Only the Avatar is supposed to be able to do that! Oh well, let's practice airbending some more." Shouldn't he... I don't know, be more worried? I mean, he opposes Karrluk's task force (which makes sense; it's an obvious power grab) but he offers no counterproposal whatsoever.

Also, halfway through the episode I'd convinced myself that Karrluk WAS Amon, but by the end of the ep I'd revised my opinion such that I'm merely convinced that he an Amon are either in cahoots, or Karrluk is being unwittingly manipulated by Amon.

Other stuff: I love Asami already, but I found myself experiencing a bit of whiplash at the rapidity of her romancing of Mako. The whole story seemed sort of perfunctory, from their bog-standard meet-cute, to the progression that led Hiroshi to sponsor the Fire Ferrets. I couldn't help wishing for a more organic progression; if Asami is such a huge fan of pro bending, wouldn't she have heard that one of the teams to qualify for the championships was having trouble raising the money? And if we assume that most pro bending teams have to pursue the sport full-time in order to be competitive, why are the Fire Ferrets the only ones short on cash? Do the other teams already have sponsors, and if so, why doesn't Mako immediately seek out sponsorship when they can't front the entry fee themselves? Their come-from behind underdog status is pure gold, plus the AVATAR IS ON THEIR TEAM, so who wouldn't jump at the chance to sponsor them? Wouldn't it have been much more organic for Asami to just approach Mako with the opportunity, take him to meet her father, THEN realize he was kind of dreamy and ask him out on a date? (Incidentally, I do love that she took all the initiative.)

Bolin's scene with Korra was great, and Bolin is my favorite. "No big deal, are you serious? I was totally freaking out!" Ugh, adorable.

Karrluk's strongarming of Korra was admittedly pretty clever, but it hinged on Korra and Tenzin not having come up with any kind of strategy on how they were going to deal with Amon, which again: Makes no sense. They should have at least been talking about it, such that if Korra were asked "So, what's your plan?" she would've been able to say something. As it was, the reporters badgering her about her lack of action actually had a point. Korra DOES have to deal with Amon, and Tenzin's inaction made it possible for Karrluk to force her onto his side.

This whole thing smacks of clumsy writing, where characters do things because the plot requires them to. The plot requires Korra to reluctantly side with Karrluk and participate in a raid on the Equalists, so Tenzin displays an inexplicable lack of political savvy. The plot requires Hiroshi Sato to sponsor the Fire Ferrets, so his daughter hits Mako on her scooter.

All the basic elements for a much more organic, subtle version of this story are here. They just require more finesse than they're getting, so far.

I started thinking about the possible nature of an Amon/Karrluk conspiracy, and the sweep of it (if I'm right) is depressingly clear. In this scenario, Amon actually is merely power-hungry, and is using anti-bending sentiment as convenient fuel to enable his rise to power. He's playing populism off of an extant oppressive government (which he's also manipulating) in order to install himself at the top. The problem with this scenario is that it could allow Korra to defeat him and "save" Republic City without ever truly addressing the inequality that's there whether Amon's taking advantage of it or not. I truly hope that whatever happens, the show doesn't make the mistake of equating the defeat of Amon with the solving of inequality.

I'm not sure what to make of the flashback wherein we see an older Sokka, Toph, and Aang, other than OH JESUS CHRIST, MY HEART.

My final thought concerns the opening narration of the show. "Only the Avatar can master all four elements, and bring balance to the world." In all seriousness, what does mastering all four elements have to do with this conflict? Republic City has deep inequality written into its basic makeup. One person who can bend all the elements is... just one exceptionally talented/fortunate person. Barring as-yet-unrevealed new abilities, she's not particularly qualified to solve this problem, and I don't understand why the story is requiring it of her.

Re: The elusive teal deer appears

[pts]

Replace "Karrluk" with "Tarrlok"; for some reason I misremembered the water tribe council member's name.

Re: The elusive teal deer appears

[dhobikikutti]

I agree with this comment.

[deird1]

On a shallow note, I love Korra's formal outfit for the party.

[pts]

YES.

[such_heights]

*facepalm* Totally forgot to put this up today, thanks for starting it off! (General note - if there's not a discussion post up yet and the episode's aired, feel free to stick it up yourself.)

[pts]

Ha ha, I'm glad it was okay! I was a bit worried. :-)

[loligo]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who went through the flashback FRAME BY FRAME. I'm honestly surprised I didn't cry.

[cofax7]

Oh, me too! It was exciting but also saddening to see them all, so grown up. Although something about the color made Aang's head-tattoo very faint and at first I couldn't tell who he was.

I really really want to know why Korra saw them, and what it means. Why would she see the former Avatar's companions, rather than just the former Avatar?

... and where was Suki?!! And Zuko? (Although at least we've seen Zuko: there was that big statue of him in the last episode.)

Oh, oh, and do we think Toph started the Republic City police force? Because what she's wearing looks much like Lin's outfit.

[swatkat]

Oh, oh, and do we think Toph started the Republic City police force? Because what she's wearing looks much like Lin's outfit.

I'm just amused by the idea of Toph in the police force. She seemed dressed like everyone else - nothing to mark out her authority, so I'm trying to contemplate Toph taking orders from someone.

[loligo]

In the first episode when Korra meets Lin, there's a flash of a statue that looks like Toph. So yeah, I think she founded the police force. I think that all those flashes were the same scene -- I think it was a memory of Aang dealing with that guy that was mentioned in the council meeting, and apparently Sokka and Toph played some role in that.

Also, I have heard that if you play the Republic City game on the Nick website, when you get to the info about the Zuko statue, you learn a lot more about Zuko's history. I don't know if that info would count as spoilers, though!

[sholio]

WOOHOO finally got a chance to watch it now that Nickelodeon has it streaming on their website, and EEEEEEE LOTS OF FEELINGS. :D

I like how the conflict and the characters' relationships are starting to gain depth and complexity. I'm tossing out my guess right now that Tarluk's reference to the enemy they took down 40 years ago is plot-relevant. Whoever that enemy was (I can't remember the name they referenced him by in the episode), I'm guessing that this is both:

a) the genesis of Amon as a threat - either Amon IS that bad guy or his son (and the firebender who killed Amon's family is either Aang or Zuko *squeaks*), or that bad guy was the firebender who killed Amon's family,

and

b) how those members of the Gaang who are not currently with us lost their lives. (Hence why the only ones we see in the flashback are those who are known to be dead -- Sokka and Aang -- plus Toph whose current fate is unknown.)

Those are my guesses, anyhow. :D

But anyway, I really like how new plot threads are being woven in. The black-and-white conflict between the Equalists and the city's government is picking up detail and depth, as is Korra and Mako's relationship with the addition of Sato's daughter. I don't disagree with pts's criticism - all good points, I think - but for my part, I was pretty happy with how things are shaping up, especially how much depth and complexity the series gained from last week in just this one episode. It's still a bit rushed and overly convenient simply by necessity (although if Asami running into Mako on her moped was total coincidence, I will be absolutely shocked; someone orchestrated that somehow, for some reason), but given that we're only four episodes in and we've already got about a dozen characters and several major storylines going on, I am pretty darn happy with what we've got.

Random comments:

SOKKA AND TOPH AND AANG, O SQUEE!

I love that the adults (Tenzin, Lin Bei Fong, Turlock, etc) are a continued presence in the show. Not that I don't love the kids; it's just that I really enjoy how the series is balancing all the different characters without the older generation being completely overshadowed by the younger. And I like the glimpses of how the city operates -- the council, for example.

Asami and her father! (That is her name, right?) Like I said above, I really don't think her almost hitting Mako was the coincidence it seems; having said that, I like the fact that she doesn't seem to be the femme fatale I thought she was at first. Whether or not she's at least partly working for/with the bad guys, I definitely think she looks like she's going to shape up to be a fun character, and makes the Korra/Mako relationship more interesting to me. Thus far, the show doesn't seem to be really blatantly pitting Asami and Korra against each other - in a circumstantial sort of way, but not directly, so I hope it doesn't come to that; I like the contrast between Korra's tomboyishness and Asami's flamboyant femininity on a character level, and hope the show doesn't end up pitting them against each other as one being "better" than the other. (The original series handled this stuff pretty well, so I am optimistic!)

I also like the addition of the Satos and their automotive empire as a neat worldbuilding touch.

The detail in this show is so amazing. One thing I was noticing is how Korra's party dress shows off her bust, but her normal workout shirt squashes down her boobs. HOW MANY ANIMATED SHOWS HAVE THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL, OMG?!

Is it just me, or is the physical appearance of two of the reporters blatantly modeled on Clark Kent and Lois Lane? XD

BOLIN HOW ARE YOU SO ADORABLE. His little cupcake! I really would not mind if the show eventually decided to go in a Bolin/Korra direction (at this point, I'm basically agnostic on all pairings - don't mind if any of the characters get together, don't mind if they don't) but the two of them also have a truly darling sibling/buddies vibe.

Tenzin's kids are so wonderfully, unsentimentally kidlike. :D I adore that serene, unruffled Tenzin has this large brood of highly energetic and intensely stubborn kids (and fairly late in life, too, as far as I can tell).

[batrachian]

Can't help but see parallels between Korra here and Aang in... I believe it's ATLA 3x09 (Nightmares and Daydreams). Both Avatars, terrified of Big Bad, doing kinda stupid things as a result. Also sleep deprivation does interesting things.

I understand Amon's reasons for letting Korra go and he's not wrong, just... argh. It still feels rather cliched to have the villain show up so early.

...I need a Korra icon. This will have to do. :)