white_lotus | Korra Discussion Post: Out of the Past

The finale is going to be so good. I wonder what other villian will be after Amon. I didn't expect Amon to just be one season.

I have to say, I'm disappointed to hear that Amon's only going to be one season. I wanted to see more of him, and I feel that they're just rushing through the arc and conflating his threat with Tarrlok's.

is it for sure that amon's only going to be in season one? i was thinking that even though it's going to be the showdown between korra and amon, amon won't be finished off yet?

originally what i thought was going to happen from the start was that korra was going to lose her bending, but since she's the avatar she would find some way to be able to regain them again. but since there's two season's only, that can't happen. it would take too long to be able to master all the elements.

then i thought that amon would take her bending away, but she would still beat him in the end without the use of any bending. she would be like the first avatar without any bending abilities. then again, could you be an avatar without any bending abilities?

sorry if i'm getting all rambly and off topic. to sum things up, i think that amon would still be the villain in season two. maybe something will happen where korra doesn't get to finish him off, or amon escapes before she's about to finish him off?

Quote from this interview with Bryke:

TOONZONE NEWS: The series was originally announced as something shorter before it was expanded to a 20+ episode season. How did the expansion affect the development of the show and your plans for the first story arc?

MICHAEL DIMARTINO: Book 1 was always going to be 12 episodes. When we started writing, we didn't know if we would do more beyond that. Unlike the original series which had a three season arc, we designed "Korra" so that each season had its own villain and clear resolution, so they are more stand-alone seasons. Although there are definitely arcs that carry over from Book 1 to Book 2.

awww i really thought that amon would be the main villain for the whole thing. oh well, i'm excited to see who the new villain is!

A few things.

First, I started out really disliking/not trusting Asami, and by now? I ADORE her, she is one of my favorite characters! She was flawless in this episode. ~~except for the love triangle parts as noted below~~

I am SUPER EXCITED about Korra really starting to connect with Aang. I love love love adult!Aang and the whole adult!gaang and I'm so excited to see more of these flashbacks <3

Tarrlok: I just wanted to punch him in the face even before it was revealed that he is a villain as well - and I love him as a villain, quite a lot. He is a person who has gained a lot of political power and is dangerous - or at least, was, since I guess the cat's out of the bag now. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being the ultimate villain of the series, or at least connected.

Speaking of which, I thought Amon was going to be the ultimate villain, but I guess he's not? since apparently his arc is about to culminate? I am disappoint - why create such an awesome, creepy villain and then only keep him around for a season?

Also, what's going to happen with the whole benders v. non-benders thing? Because I really liked where that was going lately - that they were finally starting to show that yes, benders CAN be and sometimes ARE oppressive to the non-benders and it's not all morally black-and-white (benders=good, equalists=bad). I would love if Korra came to more of an understanding of this. I don't like what the Equalists do, but Korra did not help that situation with how she treated some of them in the first few episodes. I want to see some empathy and understanding; I want to see the main characters realize that it's not all black and white. (Also? I think one reason why I loved Asami so much in this ep is that she was absolutely *indispensable* to the krew, even though she was the only non-bender there.)

I'm sick and tired of the love triangle bullshit being pulled in just about every episode. Stop it. Just please. stop. Stop bringing high school drama into this situation, do you really think they'd stop to worry about crushes and who kissed who in the middle of a fucking rescue mission? I'm so tired of romance being central to the story when we're not even done with the first season yet. ugh

Lin Bei Fong is made of amazing and I adore her.

Tahno is such a cool character and I hope they bring him back in some way.

And finally, Naga is flawless, full stop. <333

why create such an awesome, creepy villain and then only keep him around for a season?

Bryke originally intended for LoK to be a mini-series. By the time Nick had ordered a second season, they were already pretty close to the end of production. So this season and all its plot points, including the villains, are meant to be self contained according to Bryke. That's why there's some pacing issues and stuff -- 12 episodes is a small amount to cram so much plot into.

Also +1 to everything you said, especially about Tahno. I'll be so sad if he disappears forever.

Yeah, I realize that. D: I'm kind of sad that they're doing it that way though, I like the whole longer-story-arc thing a lot better, I think it's much harder to put a complete story with character development and resolution and everything in twelve eps. It's no one's fault necessarily, but it still makes me sad.

So with you on the love triangle problem. Asami especially is so far out of character – one moment, tough as nails and simultaneously stunt-driving and electrocuting bad guys, and the next, whimpering about jealousy in the middle of a life-or-death situation? Please.

one moment, tough as nails and simultaneously stunt-driving and electrocuting bad guys, and the next, whimpering about jealousy in the middle of a life-or-death situation? Please.

This. You put it excellently.

I demand a Lin Beifong spin-off.

This

thirding.

YES. It would be a fascinating cop show, wouldn't it? Cop shows are all about procedure and method, and the procedure and method would be just so different with benders.

The Wire with bending. I would be all over that.

Practical objection: I might not survive this. I am, however, prepared to sacrifice myself to the cause.

With love,
The Girl Who Literally Just Starts Crying When Lin Appears On Screen

So many thoughts! First, I still hate love triangles and probably always will. This one is particularly noxious and I hope at least that Asami doesn't grow to resent Korra and/or cling to Mako, because that would just be icing on a terrible cake.

Second, I got pretty attached to both Amon and Tarrlok as antagonists, and while their stories were well-handled, I can't help but think both of them had high concepts that could have been handled with greater finesse and depth. All in all, I am often ambivalent about LOK. I love and fangirl it! ...But. *shrug*

As a final note, Korra's doe eyes towards the end of the ep were totally working on me. Usually I'm immune to that sort of thing.

I love both Tarrlok and Amon and I wish their arcs weren't going to end so quickly. =/

Amon was probably the best thing about this ep. Tarrlok(sp?)'s plan was kind of ill-thought out, though believeably desperate. Amon is still mysterious and creepy and actually seems to have an ultimate goal in mind, which is always handy. Any speculation on his ability to resist bloodbending? I wonder if having been a bender whose bending Aang removed might have given him some ability to resist? Or it does lend weight to the theory I've seen here a few times that he's not actually human, he's a spirit of some kind, which might make him less made of water? (And would, now that I come to think of it, be a nice way to tie Korra's social role - spirit world diplomacy - into the new political world that may or may not need an Avatar as much any more.)

If Amon is going to be defeated this season, does that necessarily mean the Equalist arc is over? I'm not sure it would happen, but it would be basically perfect if Korra defeated him and then realised that they still had to deal with his people and the very real social problem.

Very tired of the love triangle. I really wish people would sit down and talk about these things, though I worry that if they did, I would object to the way that conversation would go as well... Am I in the minority when I say that Mako has basically done nothing wrong? Korra was not at her classiest when she kissed him, but as far as terrible things go, hitting on someone who has a SO and then backing off when he says he's not interested is not really high up there. On Mako's side, am I misremembering that he was basically slightly confused and attracted to Korra, but he explicitly turned her down? Even if you are seeing someone, being hit on is not the same as cheating, honestly. It worries me that the narrative is building this up as an actual problem where Korra and Mako were somehow unfaithful, when it's more of a stupid misunderstanding.

Also I was really enjoying Korra and Asami being friends (driving fast cars together! Team Avatar!), so I will be very upset if they ditch that in favour of incredibly bland romance. AtLA was so good at female friendships, I really hope they haven't regressed.

I agree with this whole comment especially wanting Asami and Korra to remain friends no matter what happens. And I like Mako with either girl but at this point I actually kind of hope he stays with Asami, but whatever. I am sick of them milking the whole romance thing and building up the drama to feed the rabid shippers rather than having the characters put that aside for the sake of their mission.

I do think Mako kissed Korra back, which was bad. But to be fair, he was caught off guard and probably didn't have a clear head. Korra should have known better than to kiss him and I think it was a big no-no, definitely NOT cool, but like you said at least she backed off when he told her to.

It would be pretty great if Mako does stay with Asami, especially if they actually managed to have a conversation about men and women being able to be friends and worry about each other without it being relationshippy, even if there has been mutual attraction. I really want everyone to be friends, basically.

True, neither of them is totally without fault, but they at least tried to fix shit and didn't let things go anywhere. The things that are really causing the problem are, frankly, Tenzin's kids and Bolin telling Asami things in a sketchy kind of way. I'm totally cool with Korra and Mako and Asami having to have a talk where they apologise for not telling her things because she could be hurt, even if nothing really happened; I just really hope the writers don't act like this is a real infidelity plot instead of a plot about people making things worse by interfering.

The things that are really causing the problem are, frankly, Tenzin's kids and Bolin telling Asami things in a sketchy kind of way.

ugh, omg, yes, that pissed me off. They need to butt out >:/

I would love to see them have such a talk. For some reason it makes me think of Ember Island from ATLA even though that's not exactly the same thing. But I also hope they don't make it the point of any of the few episodes we have remaining. It's something they could do maybe at the end of one after a big fight or sth idk. they've already put so much screen time into romance and I wish they wouldn't have but now what are we gonna do? =/

I would be so happy if equalists remained a problem (and a valid concern) after Amon got defeated, but I'm not sure if that level of political ambiguity and general unsolvability can be fitted into an adventure plot aimed at children.

I know, but it would be so beautiful if they did manage it, wouldn't it? It probably can't be done as the main plot of the season, but as a running B plot maybe? Simplified, so probably mostly consisting of Korra running into situations in which benders are oppressing non-benders and she realises that her job is partially to protect the latter, and maybe culminating with something like the election of non-bender representatives to the council? All this policing of non-benders en masse with Tarrlok seems like it's sort of going there, though admittedly the writers will probably want to wrap it up by the end of the season and that leaves them without a definite villain, which they do seem to want.

Oh! Actually, what would be really cool would be if after Korra&co. defeat Amon and the secret violent bits of the Equalists and are trying to deal with replacing Tarrlok on the council, the Equalists show up as a legitimate political party and the plot could be something like Korra realising that that's the side she should be on, now that they've given up violence. That gives you a narrative simple enough for kids, admittedly lacking a really obvious villain, but with enough going on and enough possibilities for minor antagonists that it might work. (I don't think this will happen, mind, but it would be interesting!)

Here's a question - are there any non-benders on the Council that rules the city? The three always agreeing with Tarrlok - are they benders? I feel like they'd have to be to agree to his stupid proposals. =/

I would love it if non-benders as a whole gained more political power while separating themselves from extremists like Amon. And I LOVE what you said about Korra realizing that her job is also to protect non-benders. It's to protect ALL people from violence and harm. I hope she has an epiphany about this because while she doesn't agree with Tarrlok-esque oppression, she also hasn't always been very nice and can act very elitist about having the power she does - a flaw and point of immaturity for her, I think.

I think they don't have to be - Sokka was on the council in the flashbacks - but I would suspect they currently are? The only societies I remember seeing in AtLA where the leaders weren't benders were either ones that apparently didn't have any (like the two feuding tribes whose names I forget) or the Southern Water tribe who'd had all of theirs killed off. Not sure if that was intentional on the part of the writers, but it does make benders seem a little more like they're an elite class.

It would make a lot of sense to me if non-benders were beginning to feel unrepresented by the current system of four representatives, one for each element, now that they're living in a city and they have identities that aren't as closely tied to being non-bender members of X social group. I'm quite positive they won't get into that on a children's show, but they could hint at it by having an Equalist political party develop?

I do at least think the show definitely realises that Korra's willingness to take advantage of being the Avatar and thinking of herself as special is something of a flaw, so it seems likely that that will be addressed at some point? AtLA was pretty good at demonstrating that Aang's role was generally supposed to be mediator rather than to pick a side.

Yeah, you're right about Sokka! *facepalm* Though I think as a close friend of the Avatar he would have had more status than the average non-bender. He's a good leader and being on the council makes perfect sense for him.

You're right that the show probably won't touch on all that but it would make really wonderful fanon/headcanon! I hope there's fic about it! Maybe I'll write some myself, though lately I haven't really been feeling the writing thing. Hopefully soon it will come back.

True about Aang, though I think that had more to do with his personality than anything. Aang and Korra are very different personality-wise and I would love to see how that affects the role they end up playing as Avatar - and how Korra struggles with her role. And I hope Korra has some real growth moments too. atm I like her as a character, but if they wrote her right in the remaining episodes I might grow to love her.

Yeah, definitely! I could easily see him being something of a rarity.

I know, right? I desperately want all of the twisty political longfic in this fandom, but no one seems to be writing it and I'm not sure I could... (It's always so tragic, no, when fandom doesn't write exactly what you want?/kidding)

Hmm, I think he'd been brought up to it a little more, but it was still sort of what he was supposed to be doing? When Aang was having Roku flashbacks, wasn't Roku's regret that he didn't deal with the Firelord when it was a matter of mediation and it ended up having to be violence instead? I do think that Korra is definitely going to end up mediating very differently, she's certainly not Aang2.0. I like her as a character too, but yeah, she'd be kind of a pain as a person sometimes and she still has a lot of growing up to do.

I hope they make her very dynamic, growing up just a little more each season and emerging as a strong woman at the end - still with flaws, but with a lot of wisdom under her belt from her experiences. I can see her being someone I would really respect at the end. Right now, she's really awesome in a lot of ways but at times makes me think of a pouty kid, so it's harder for me to respect her in the same way I'm compelled to respect, say, Tenzin. (Who, btw? is also awesome. "You really are the worst!" haha)

Everything I was going to say about this episode got eaten up by SOKKA'S TRUSTY BOOMERANG.

Korra Discussion Post: Out of the Past

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