Korra Discussion Post: 'Turning the Tides'

[whitelotusmods]

Discussion for this week below! Spoilers up to 1x10.

Comments

[swatkat]

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.

[pts]

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.