white_lotus | Korra Discussion Post: Out of the Past

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)

Korra Discussion Post: Out of the Past

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject