Korra Discussion Post: 'Welcome to Republic City'/'A Leaf in the Wind'

[whitelotusmods]

This is a post where you can discuss the most recent episodes and link to your own reaction posts. What do you make of Legend of Korra so far?

Likely spoilers for 1x01 & 1x02 below.

Comments

[jadedmusings]

...because I really don't think Amon is a genuine Equalist. I think he co-opted the growing Equalist movement in order to make his own bid for power/achieve his own nefarious ends.

I agree, though I'm waiting to see what this huge secret is for the next episode (when Amon shows up). I have this little idea at the back of my mind that makes me wonder if he is actually a bender himself or was a bender who did Very Bad Things or threatened to and had his bending taken away from him (a la Ozai), however, I realize that's a huuuuuuuuuge leap. Though I do wonder if Aang ever took anyone else's bending away in aftermath of the war.

Korra's kneejerk instinct was to use bending to make her point; the Triple Threat Triad used their bending to terrorize a neighborhood, and if you look at all the people currently in positions of power (that we know of), they're benders. Let's cut soapbox guy some slack.

Agreed again, and I think one of the big hurdles and lessons for this series will be about the temptation for using bending to solve all problems, and how to find the proper balance between benders and non-benders. It'll be interesting if this new group of characters picks up a non-bender to join in their adventures along the way who proves even without bending you can still kick ass and make a difference (like Sokka).

[talibusorabat]

if he is actually a bender himself or was a bender who did Very Bad Things or threatened to and had his bending taken away from him

Oooooh, THAT'S an Amon theory I haven't heard! I like it!


....I seriously doubt it will go this route, but it could be interesting if Amon was one of the Avatar candidates that the White Lotus investigated (if only because I love huge plot points that come from throwaway lines)



There is an upcoming character who will be the group's resident non-bender, if I understand my spoilers correctly. :)


A part of me kind of wants Korra's/the series' arc to be a rejection of the "lone savior" idea. Teamwork was a huge part of the original series, but everything still hinged on Aang and Aang alone Being the Avatar and Saving the World. I'm not sure how something like that would even play out, though.

[opusculasedfera]

A part of me kind of wants Korra's/the series' arc to be a rejection of the "lone savior" idea.

I like that idea a lot. It could work, I think. You already have the Fire Ferrets/pro-bending arc for the direct lessons about people having specific roles and the need to trust other people to be good at their own stuff and not do everything on your own. Korra has to only waterbend and trust Bolin and Mako to do their own bending, that kind of thing. Plus the need to coordinate strategy and work together on training.

Then in the bigger arc with the Equalists, I think if there's one thing we've really seen it's that Korra has no idea how to deal with the new problems of a city and city-style crime (or anything that needs a solution other than bending; I love the girl, but she's perhaps excessively direct) so it wouldn't be hard to make it obvious that she needs the help of Lin (and other people? I haven't really looked at cast spoilers yet) who have some political savvy or maybe the ability to infiltrate the group, which would explicitly require non-benders or at least lessons for Korra in how to deal with things without bending so she could effectively pass.

Plausible?

[talibusorabat]

Oooh, yes! And with Lin definitely this idea of balance would come into play, since from what I've seen/read, on a scale of total anarchy to complete military dictatorship, Lin skews pretty heavily towards "complete military dictatorship."

Which actually makes me think of Korra and Tenzin/the White Lotus as kind of analogous to Republic City and Chief Bei Fong/the metalbending police. Tenzin/the White Lotus try to protect Korra by incredibly restricting her freedom, just as the police are trying to protect Republic City with rigid laws (people are starving on the street, but you can't fish!) and an overwhelming presence (ziplines everywhere for the metalbenders, zepplins so they can fly around and patrol, etc).

It'll be interesting to see where that goes.

[opusculasedfera]

Those are interesting parallels! And if they went for that as the extreme to be rectified and Korra as the balancing figure (which has to come into her character arc as it's basically the whole point of the Avatar) then I think that partially answers elialshadowpine's excellent point below that it is kind of nice to have a female saviour figure. Korra can still be the person who brings people together for balance, but that still reinforces the theme of bending not being the most important thing ever. She'd have to learn other people's non-bending skills (e.g. diplomacy or political savvy) first, and diplomacy isn't the kind of thing you can beat into submission so even if she does become a good mediator it would still rely on other people being willing to make changes and be less a single person saving everyone because of innate saviour-ness, while still featuring a woman saving the shit out of everyone.

[elialshadowpine]

"A part of me kind of wants Korra's/the series' arc to be a rejection of the "lone savior" idea."

Hm, I can see this, and on one hand, I like that idea! On the other hand, we pretty rarely see a woman as the lone savior, yknow? And I'm not sure it would be sending a great message with the previous show having a male lone savior but the following season following with a woman protagonist being different. (Although one thing I really loved about the original series was that even though Aang was obviously the savior, EVERYONE involved was important.)

[talibusorabat]

Yeah, that's why I'm not entirely certain I want it to happen - the whole "guy can be a lone savior, but girl must work in a team" thing. But it would be really interesting to see a dismantaling/radical redefinition of the Avatar's role, especially in a more modern, possibly secular society. Aang was given a very sort of rigid role to play - you must be the bridge between the worlds; you must restore balance and defeat the Fire Lord. Initially he ran away from that role, but in the end he did come back and do what was expected of him (though he did assert some independence in choosing to take Ozai's bending rather than kill him, which I loved loved loved). I'd find it really interesting if Korra was given a similarly rigid role as the Avatar and simply rejected it completely, choosing to define it for herself instead.