white_lotus | Korra Discussion Post: 'Turning the Tides'

as of now, episode 10 is my new favorite. first of all, you have the airbender kids flying in to save lin- who is by far the most badass character in the series. then asami shows us her fighting skills, and mako actually does something. i don't about you guys, but for the last episodes i felt like mako was just there for relationship purposes. but in this episode, he actually did something that was pretty cool in my opinion, which was redirecting lighting/electric shocks.

although this was the episode that lin loses her bending, it's still my favorite cause now she will be forever a hero to me in the series. also, she took it like a boss- not like tahno (who i love and all).

and last but not least, general iroh makes an appearance! finally, i've been dying to see who dante was going to voice. it was killing me! in all honesty, i was kind of hoping for dante to voice the grandson of azula or something.... but i don't azula would ever have kids cause she scares the guys away :(

anyway, i can't wait for the next episode. korra has to go into the avatar state!

Thank you for reminding me of the cool thing Mako did. I kind of forgot about that in the middle of being mad that he was a douche, a drama magnet and generally useless. But that moment was pretty awesome.

but i don't azula would ever have kids cause she scares the guys away :(

lol that's true, but it's a very interesting concept.

korra has to go into the avatar state!

I don't know if she's really ready for that, but idk if she can afford to wait much longer. And I would LOVE to see it, really.

She needs more focus on her spiritual life. It would be nice if they made it all tie in. And I just REALLY want to see her communicate directly with Aang!

god, mako was annoying the hell out of me in this episode! i mean, i get that he was worried for korra because she got kidnapped and stuff, but at least have the decency to pay some attention to your girlfriend when she wants to talk.

and i agree, korra needs to be more spiritual. after all that's an important component to unlocking the avatar state, and learning how to airbend.

Lin is a big damn hero. She didn't hesitate to give up her own bending to protect the last Airbenders. It's not just about saving one family, or the family of her ex-boyfriend/childhood friend - by saving the Airbenders, she ensured that Airbending doesn't die out and the balance of the world isn't lost forever. She just saved the world.

I love her so much.

Well Amon was asking about Korra, not the Airbenders. She was protecting Korra specifically. And it wouldn't make sense for them to ask her where they were - they were following them when they caught Lin.

However, I have no doubt that she would have shown as much courage and defiance if they'd asked about the Airbenders instead of Korra. Lin, ilu. :')

No, I agree - what I was trying to say that had she not gone after the airships, perhaps none of this would have been necessary at all. But Lin did that to save Tenzin and family, knowing full well the consequences.

True! I didn't think of it that way because when she said "whatever happens to me" I thought she thought she was gonna go down with the airships and just drown. But you're right, and she would have had to realize that losing her bending was a distinctly possible outcome.

ugh, I thought exactly the same thing ;_; I'M WITH YOU MEELO. She's my hero. I love her so much.

THAT WAS SO CUTE when Meelo said that :')

Seconded to the moon and back.

I had the rather jarring experience of simultaneously feeling "OH NO LIN MY HEAAARRT" and "HOLY FUCK ZUKO'S OFFSPRING AW YEAH"

Other than that, kind of same old/same old. Mako is a douche, Asami is awesome, neutral on Korra, needs more Bolin, Tenzin and Lin kick ass, and Naga is my favorite.

Here is a longer and more in-depth reaction post on my journal; feel free to read and comment here or there about it.

I liked this ep. The pacing is a lot better when the story spans a few hours' time rather than days or weeks.

Edited (HTML fail) 2012-06-16 19:48 (UTC)

Yes, yes.

Asami rocks it. Moar Bolin plz.

I am sooooo excited to be caught up now!!!

I am seriously getting TIRED of Mako leaving Asami hanging like that, SHE EVEN CONFRONTS HIM and he goes 'is there something to talk about???' OH NO YOU DIDN'T. Ugh. I've never had strong feelings about him or any of the love triangle.. square?? whatever pairings, but I'm really getting tired of this. BREAK UP WITH ASAMI, MAKO. Or at least /talk/ really talk things with her. SHE DESERVES THAT. Instead of spending all that time taking care of Korra, which I understand, it's been tough on her, but seriously, she has the rest of the gang too, you should've at least... try to be honest with Asami, I mean. Hey, here you are, worried SICK about this other girl who isn't your girlfriend... and don't you think she's going to notice? Don't you think she deserves an explanation? Or even, don't you think KORRA also deserves a guy who is not just keeping his girlfriend because???

UGH.

This episode was amaazing and it blew my mind away AND OMG MY FEELINGS, yes, but I needed somewhere to vent.

LET'S PROCEED TO APPRECIATE THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS LIN BEI FONG YOU PEOPLE. Queen of my freaking soul.

So given that Lin Bei Fong's narrative reward for being the girl Tenzin didn't get with was being allowed to nobly sacrifice herself for his family, I can only assume that Asami will be allowed to similarly nobly sacrifice herself once she realizes that Korra and Mako are Destined.

Ugh.

Also, I'm starting to become annoyed with the treatment of having characters' bending taken away as the LITERAL WORST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN. You know? It sucks, but it's... not that bad. Most of Republic City lives that way. A person's value does not derive from what they're physically able to do—but this show's portrayal of characters' reactions to having their bending stripped implies that a person's value, in may ways, DOES derive from what they're physically able to do.

Mako continues to exist solely as a fulcrum for irritating romantic tension, and Bolin continues to have literally nothing to do. Awesome.

I couldn't even bring myself to care about Iroh's appearance at the end.

Lin didn't just save Tenzin's family, she saved Airbending, and therefore ensured the world isn't forever out of balance.

Also, I'm starting to become annoyed with the treatment of having characters' bending taken away as the LITERAL WORST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN. You know? It sucks, but it's... not that bad.

Bending isn't just a physical ability, though. It has a spiritual component to it. Taking one's bending away is ripping out a part of a person's soul, if you will; cutting them off from their element.

Of course, it doesn't mean it's the worst thing that could happen - they're still alive. But for a bender, who has grown up taking the ability bend an element for granted, it's a terrible way to live. They might learn to live with it eventually, but I don't see why they wouldn't mourn its loss at first.

Edited 2012-06-16 22:19 (UTC)

It has an incredibly vague spiritual component, sure. But we've never once in this show been shown what that actually means, other than when you lose it, you can't bend anymore. There's nothing in the text to suggest that it's tantamount to "ripping out a part of a person's soul."

They might learn to live with it eventually, but I don't see why they wouldn't mourn its loss at first.

Of course they would mourn its loss. But from an outside perspective, its portrayal as the worst thing that can happen to someone short of actually dying is an insult to the millions of people who never had the ability in the first place.

That is, of course, Amon's point—the point is that the more you have taken bending and its attendant superiority for granted, the more you stand to lose when it is taken away. The reaction of society to his (admittedly indefensible) actions only proves his point.

I hope that isn't what ends up happening with Asami. =(

You have a point about the whole bending/nonbending thing, but I mean...the show is literally about bending, so of course it's going to be a focus for the audience. And if you consider what an important part of a person's identity their bending must be...like if I were Lin, I'd feel like I lost a part of myself. A HUGE part.

I think we should have had more of a hard look at the moral implications of Amon's campaign and the attitudes some of the benders don't even seem to realize they have towards non-benders. The portrayal of "benders = good, equalists = bad" was way oversimplified. But I don't think the problem was portraying the loss of someone's bending as horrible, because I think it really is, for that person.

I am confindent that Beifong will continue to be badass as a non-bender. Maybe she can be part of reforming the situation for non-benders?

And otherwise I pretty much agree with what you've said. I feel like there are disability paralels although IDK if they are good ones.

Plenty of awesomeness in many places, focusing on appearance of General Iroh (because reasons).

Zuko's son or grandson? My personal headcanon is leaning towards son, given the age gaps we've seen elsewhere in that particular family tree, but would love to hear y'all's opinions.

Ooh, good ep. Really, really tired of Mako the Drama Llama! Just fess up! It really shows that he doesn't really care about anyone's feelings but his own. I hope both Korra and Asami turn him down!

LIIIIN! Honestly, I don't think anything has gone right for her since the start of the season. Her policemen have lost their bending, she loses her position, and now her bending. I'm thinking bending can be restored when they get in touch with their spiritual side, which RC has shown to be lacking in. But I am still a bit sore at how Black and White the conflict has been shown. It had so much potential.

Dante's voice doesn't fit Iroh at all. Sorry, fandom.

I am right there with you on Dante's voice. The poor guy just sounds perennially 15, and the voice doesn't fit with a guy who looks about 30.

Which is funny considering Dante is actually 30. Maybe it'll gel better the more he talks?

Actually, it seems that he's 36! So, given that the voice actor is actually roughly the right age for the character, I guess that most of my 'wtf' is due to the fact that it's Zuko's voice rather than a 'the voice actor is too young to play that role'. Like you, I'm betting that the more he talks, the more I'll get used to it. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Basco

I'm usually all for this kind of Fanservice but on this case? Not so much. Adding my vote to the pile on that one.

And to everything else you said actually. Both Mako and how there are so many shades of gray in this thing, there could have at least been a nod to them - Asami and her possible connection with the equalists was pretty much a lost chance to do it, so was Tarlock and using the equalists as an escape goat (Amon could have easily made a one liner about that one) and there were some more things that could have been said on that - I know we only have 12 episodes but COME ON!

Edited 2012-06-17 01:15 (UTC)

It just sounded really out of place. Like, he could have deepened it or something or anything!

I eat up gray morality with a spoon! It could have been so complicated and dubious and glorious had they not focused so much on pro-bending and the love triangle. I had my hopes up with Tarrlok's story but oh well. It's just such a shame we haven't heard anything from non-benders than Asami's throwaway line eps ago.

I hope both Korra and Asami turn him down!

Gosh, this.

Dante's voice doesn't fit Iroh at all. Sorry, fandom.

AND THIS. It was /exactly Zuko's voice/. It was... weird.

I hope both Korra and Asami turn him down!

Third. And then he grows the frak up. Of course they all need to, and deserve to.

I was ok with Iroh's voice (except for falling out of my chair...). I don't really get what the problem is, except maybe that he should sound a little more different from Zuko. But we haven't had much chance to hear what he says and how he says it, so probably (hopefully?) there will be differences.

But I am still a bit sore at how Black and White the conflict has been shown. It had so much potential.

omg, yes. this. D:

I'm thinking bending can be restored when they get in touch with their spiritual side

I like this idea. I'm pretty sure that endgame for the show will include some way of restoring bending (and now that Lin has lost hers it seems even more likely), and that would be a way to do it that goes back to all the stuff in A:TLA about balance and mediation rather than only fighting.

Your ideas are good ideas and I hope they happen. Although it would be very interesting if they defeat Amon, but he has succeeded in permanently putting much of the bending elite in the position of the non-bending citizens.

Damn, now I want that resolution too. I suspect it would be considered a bit much for the kids though (so much resentment from both sides: it would be delicious, but ultra complicated and without a clear solution) and the best we'll get is the message that "everyone has special powers, it's okay to have your own, just don't be a dick about it," as symbolised by the benders getting their powers back, but the non-benders getting something socially (or maybe something like Asami with the glove? A:TLA was good at that stuff with Suki, Mai, etc.)

Loved, loved, loved the episode, even with what happened to Lin and the baby choosing exactly that moment to be born, it's just a thing that irks me in fiction, a pregnant woman always has a big red arrow saying "baby due in however long it takes the bad guys to attack" on her. Bleh.

And Mako really is starting to get on my very small list of hated characters. Believe me when I say that one has to be a very special kind of douchebag to get in it. Only made worse by how he's dragging Korra too. Not cool. I got hopeful when she told him that Asami needed him last episode but it didn't seem to follow through this one.

Aaaand! General Iroh! Congrats on your face and all that! Not on your voice though. I mean, Dante's a nice guy and I'm normally all for nods to ATLA but Iroh's supposed to be what? 40? 35? The voice just doesn't fit the character here.

They should have gotten into a time machine and pulled Dante from 30 years in the future, maybe at 70 he'll sound like a 40 year old

I didn't really think Iroh looked that old? idk...

and yeah it's been said and over-said, but really Mako, go jump in a lake. I hope both girls turn him down.

Edited 2012-06-17 20:05 (UTC)

I'm so late. I wish I could live blog but I watch streams from my laptop hooked to the tv. Some things....

-I really like Asami but I hate this love triangle business. I think she's going to defect to be close to her dad.

-I didn't like Jinora's line of "Leave my dad's ex girlfriend alone." I thought "Did they really have to go there?"

-Lin was flawless. I was mad at first at Amon taking away her bending but then I thought this can't be permanent. There has to be a way around this. Maybe it's long term chi blocking and no one's figured out how to undo it? I just can't accept that Lin's bending is gone forever. There has to be a way around this.

-People at

ontd_lok on LJ was calling him Iroh 2.0 and Zuko 2.0. Having the same voice actor was really bugging me. I don't like it personally.

-Everyone was shipping Iroh 2.0 and Asami calling it Irasami or something like that. I ship it too just for the hotness factor and I regret nothing.

-Where's Azula? I want to know what's going on with her.

-Spider rats? WTF do they even look like? I don't even want to know. I'd lose my shit either way.

-Can't wait till next week.

Glad that I'm not the only one freaked out about the spider-rat thing, man those must be freaky.

I'm torn. I love rats and am terrified of spiders. I'm so confused on how a spider-rat would make me feel.

I really kind of want to see one now!

I really like Asami but I hate this love triangle business. I think she's going to defect to be close to her dad.

Ohhh, I hope not. But she's been treated pretty terribly by the krew =/

Ahhh, all my feels!!! ;_;

Tenzin is pretty badass. I love watching him do his thing. The fight with the mecha-tanks was awesome!

Lots of people have wondered why lightning-bending is a thing now, and I think Mako's use of it is really telling. He has to work up to it and be able to concentrate. The only times we've seen him use it were in the power plant, when chasing the Equalists, and in the fight with mecha-tanks, all when he had fair warning and could work up to it. So it's not so much a rare ability as something that requires effort & concentration.

Asami fighting! Airbender kids fighting! That was cool, but I was terrified for the kids, even though Jinnora & Ikki were the same age as the Gaang when they were on their world adventure.

Baby! Yes, it was annoying that Pema 'happened' to give birth at exactly the time the Equalists attacked Air Temple Island, but still. Ikki was adorable.

Also, why were Asami & Pema doing washing up the shitty white people way? (And why is it the women who do all the housework?)

Lin's Last Stand was awesome. It just brought back so many memories of Toph & Sokka taking down the Fire Nation fleet in A:TLA. She's had to deal with so much. But I bet she finds a way to bust out of whatever prison she's held in. I don't think Lin was trying to be heroic and sacrifice herself. She's pragmatic and a fantastic tactician. She'd have some plan, even a vague one, about what to do next. And I don't think she believes losing your bending is the end of the world.

My money is on Iroh II being Zuko's grandson. By the time of the events in LoK, Zuko's in his late 80s. Like Aang's, Katara's & Toph's kids, his kids would be middle-aged by now and old enough to have adult kids of their own.

Also, why were Asami & Pema doing washing up the shitty white people way?

Okay, now I'm curious - if you don't mind my asking, what's the other way?

Otherwise, basically what you said. :D (I totally squeakyflailed at the sound of Dante Basco's voice. I want to know Iroh II's whole family tree now!)

The way where dishes aren't just soaked in a pool of their own grime, but each individual dish/utensil is scrubbed then rinsed off. Which would be the more hygienic method in a place where they don't have hot running water (which is incidentally what they're talking about when Asami & Pema are washing up).

Ah! Thank you so much for the explanation. ♥ Yes, that is a very sensible system!

Damn, the fight scenes in this were amazing. The pro-bending stuff has been fun, but the beauty of bending is the crazy creative stuff you can do and this ep had it in spades.

Lin's arc was alternately great and terrible. I was rolling my eyes at Pema going into labour at the worst possible moment, but I did like that, even though they had the opportunity to do the "the only other adult woman around during labour is a woman who is super uncomfortable with kids, haha!" thing, they didn't, and Lin's actual skills were recognised as equally important at that moment, instead of it just being about mocking her discomfort with "feminine" tasks. On the other hand, I could have done without her being relegated to "my dad's ex-girlfriend" all the time. It was especially annoying because it would have been a cute line if being his ex-girlfriend was shown as being much less fraught. I keep wanting to fan-wank the whole Lin-Tenzin-Pema triangle into something more interesting because "I am awkward around the people I/my SO used to fuck" is incredibly boring and typical, whereas "I have remained friends with my ex and am on good terms with his wife and kids" would at least be unusual, and would make "my dad's ex-girlfriend" a joke about simplifying what was obviously a more meaningful relationship instead of a straightforward description. Plus Lin sacrificing herself for Tenzin is a little awkward, though I'm hoping that she won't ultimately have sacrificed herself and that she can have some plot of her own while she's trying to escape with no bending.

I am extra tired of the Korra-Mako-Asami triangle. I did like that Asami said that she likes Korra and seems to be appropriately mad at Mako, which you don't always get in love triangles, but everything else was tedious. Everyone involved has legitimate points (except for Bolin who was just stirring up shit and hasn't even done anything with the A plot to redeem himself from that), but they're being presented in the worst possible way, and in a way that makes me worry that it's the narrative that's doing it badly, not just the characters being teenagers and bad at this...

Not sure about Iroh, I feel kind of "really, another new character?" and if the United Army (is that the right name?) fixes shit then that's going to be really narratively unsatisfying and deus ex machina-y.

Okay, you guys, I am caught up and LIN LIN LIN LIN LIN. Er. Other thoughts too.

-Mako is a seriously bad boyfriend and Asami should dump him and find a better one. Korra should also find someone better.

-I find the dynamic between Tenzin, Lin and Pema kind of hilarious. Tenzin's all "this is my ex and my wife so it's totally going to be awkward ack" and Lin and Pema are all "whatever, Tenzin. Let's get shit done around here!"

-Tenzin kicks some butt and then Team Avatar arrives and kicks way more. Especially Asami, who has completely won my heart by now and I deeply regret ever suspecting for a moment that she might be evil, as I did for most of her first episode. I'm sorry, Asami! I'm sorry, Bryke, for thinking you would fall into the "pretty and taking the initiative = evil" thing when I should've known better.

-The Air kids are totally awesome. Special love for Jinora's nick-of-time "stay away from my dad's ex-girlfriend!" but I have to admit Meelo is disturbingly adorable for such a hideous little creature.

-I'm glad Lin didn't have to play midwife, 'cause that is one played-out cliché. Much better to have her taking on whole airships single-handed in the tradition of Suki.

-Speaking of Lin, LIN NO NO NO I may cry. I mean, this woman got dressed every day with bending. She's Toph's kid! Bending has to be, like, the center of her universe and her identity! And yet she gives it up unquestioningly for the greater good and my soul hurts. Lin, I love you.

Last thought: I really wanna see some Spirit World visiting or talking to Aang directly, still. C'mon, Korra!

I wish it had been this show many episodes ago--I feel like it's FINALLY finding its footing.

Agree with all the Mako-is-a-dick. Sigh. I liked him at first, but in the love triangle (which I am neutral about--I don't love triangles, but I think the show has generally handled it fairly well) he's pretty much the least mature person. So I hope that bites him in the ass.

Also LIN. ♥_♥

Korra Discussion Post: 'Turning the Tides'

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject