Avatar is back.

[Momo(th)]

Fan-theory time! The images that Korra keeps seeing is Aang trying to communicate to her like what Roku did to Aang. He's trying to tell her something about Amon, because the flashbacks are all about a trial and some fight Aang had. I believe that Aang fought, defeated, and imprisoned Amon's father, and that's what started his intense hatred of bending.

 

[Aisling]

Fan-theory time! The images that Korra keeps seeing is Aang trying to communicate to her like what Roku did to Aang. He's trying to tell her something about Amon, because the flashbacks are all about a trial and some fight Aang had. I believe that Aang fought, defeated, and imprisoned Amon's father, and that's what started his intense hatred of bending.

Depending on how long ago the flashbacks are, maybe it's Amon himself? Or would he be too old?

 

[RespectTheBlade]

I believe Amon is connected to Ozai in some way. Only Ozai and Avatar Aang (at least to my knowledge) have experienced Spiritbending, or the ability to remove a person's bending (what Aang did to Ozai in the finale.)

 

[Butterfree]

So, anyone else think yesterday's episode was pretty promising?

Spoiler

They're finally getting into "Hey, maybe the non-benders are being oppressed." It's still like "Well, the equalists are horrible and evil, but those people aren't equalists!", but with this episode and Korra's "You're just as bad as Amon!" and Tarrlok being a bloodbender who doesn't even need the full moon to do it and "There are a lot of things you don't know about me" and everything, they seem to be setting him up as a very major if not the main villain of the show. (Shadey seems to think he is Amon; I think that doesn't make any sense and would be disappointing.)

 

[yiran]

Yes. Oh my God yes. I'm exploding at this very moment.

Spoiler: My brain hurts

I have never watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, but my friends convinced me to watch Korra and I ADSJFASDFKJed. Seriously, every episode is amazing. There are humorous and dramatic and heartwarming moments, and everything is just so PERFECT. Well not completely perfect, just amazing.

Okay, I've calmed down. Rational inference time. I think yesterday's episode was very good – it changed so fast from being quite lighthearted to oh-crap level serious. Tarrlok is portrayed so well (badly?) that I wanted Korra to throw the two rocks at him, even if I'm nowhere near Korra's hotheaded personality. The fighting at the end wasn't too full of action, but the atmosphere and the surprise bloodbending was just so... dramatic, and that's topped further with the flashbacks. I really, really want to know what happens next, which means the writers pretty much succeeded as writers since this is how you get people to read/watch your fiction; make them want to figure out what is going to happen (or happened, depending on how much the audience knows).

WHERE DID PABU GO?

 

[opaltiger]

So, anyone else think yesterday's episode was pretty promising?

Spoiler

They're finally getting into "Hey, maybe the non-benders are being oppressed." It's still like "Well, the equalists are horrible and evil, but those people aren't equalists!", but with this episode and Korra's "You're just as bad as Amon!" and Tarrlok being a bloodbender who doesn't even need the full moon to do it and "There are a lot of things you don't know about me" and everything, they seem to be setting him up as a very major if not the main villain of the show. (Shadey seems to think he is Amon; I think that doesn't make any sense and would be disappointing.)

Spoiler

I do wish they'd been slightly less heavy-handed about it. As it is it's basically LOOK HERE SEE OUR CLEVER ALLEGORY LOOK HOW ALLEGORICAL WE ARE WINK WINK which is slightly annoying. Also: are the other three councillors ever going to speak?

 

[yiran]

Spoiler

I do wish they'd been slightly less heavy-handed about it. As it is it's basically LOOK HERE SEE OUR CLEVER ALLEGORY LOOK HOW ALLEGORICAL WE ARE WINK WINK which is slightly annoying. Also: are the other three councillors ever going to speak?

Why look at fiction from such a analytical point of view? I know I'm being the white knight and just blindly defending the series here, but I just enjoy the show without thinking of its devices. This is why I don't go to TvTropes much anymore – it makes me think of fiction from a much too cerebral view than I'd like to.

I do agree with your last sentence, though. But really, it's not like it's main target audience is people that rationally talk about plot devices, characters, etc. It's marketed more towards the people who are constantly ASDGHASLDFKJing, not even bothering to stop to think about implausibilities. So yeah, even though from an analytical standpoint I do agree with your comment, I think they did the right choice. Which is, focusing more on the action AND MAKING PEOPLE HATE TARRLOK! /emotional

 

[opaltiger]

Why look at fiction from such a analytical point of view?

I don't. I try not to analyse things as I'm watching/reading/playing them. Which is why it's even more annoying when they end up being sufficiently unsubtle that I can't not analyse them.

 

[Minish]

But really, it's not like it's main target audience is people that rationally talk about plot devices, characters, etc. It's marketed more towards the people who are constantly ASDGHASLDFKJing, not even bothering to stop to think about implausibilities. So yeah, even though from an analytical standpoint I do agree with your comment, I think they did the right choice. Which is, focusing more on the action AND MAKING PEOPLE HATE TARRLOK! /emotional

I don't really like this attitude. :c Korra's target audience is mostly kids, yeah, but the idea that kids don't notice plot points that don't make sense or heavy-handedness is pretty unfair. Shows like Doctor Who, books like Harry Potter, they manage to pull off intelligent and interesting things without somehow breaking children's brains. I know when I was a kid I tended to appreciate not being treated like I wouldn't notice implausibilities.

The thing is that a lot of hard work has to go into making something like a good kids' show, compared to the little work that goes into watching it! It's sometimes hard to notice all the hard work (including choosing plot devices), but when clearly not much work has gone into it it's suddenly really obvious. You don't have to be super-analytical to be put off by it, or even notice.


The heavy-handedness really is getting a bit much in Korra. I'm still holding out and watching each episode and having fun, but I don't really know why they decided that aiming for a slightly older audience/having older characters = just more relationship drama, apparently? I felt that Aang's cycle had really interesting and poignant themes, and was occasionally quite wise, and then Korra's just... a bunch more generic. But it's okay.

Still needs to try making the main characters interesting for once, though.

 

[Butterfree]

Seems a bit weird to call it allegory, unless I'm way misunderstanding what you're calling allegorical. A work of fiction having oppression isn't an allegory for oppression; it's just oppression. ?_? I do kind of agree on how blatant they felt the need to make the SUDDEN OPPRESSION before having the narrative take a proper stance against it, but it didn't bother me much; I'm still holding out for a more nuanced take on the issue in the future, and something this obviously wrong could just be the kick that Korra needs to start properly perceiving more nuance in the matter.

 

[opaltiger]

I don't know, I just thought there was something about the particular set-up (subset of group X belongs to dangerous militant group; therefore abridge rights for all group X) which is particularly relevant today.

 

[Aisling]

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Tarrlok is either the son of the guy who's on trial in Korra's visions (I think everyone in this episode's flashback was being bloodbended by the allies of the guy on trial), or working with Amon, or possibly both, because he's making it way too easy for Amon to justify what he's doing! Nobody can be that short-sighted

WHAT IF TARRLOK IS ALWAYS BLOODBENDING THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS INTO RAISING THEIR HANDS AND THEY FEAR HIM SO MUCH BECAUSE HE CAN DO THAT

edit: I find it kind of amusing that this thread has more black than any other thread discussing a thing on this forum ever

 

[yiran]

I don't really like this attitude. :c Korra's target audience is mostly kids, yeah, but the idea that kids don't notice plot points that don't make sense or heavy-handedness is pretty unfair. Shows like Doctor Who, books like Harry Potter, they manage to pull off intelligent and interesting things without somehow breaking children's brains. I know when I was a kid I tended to appreciate not being treated like I wouldn't notice implausibilities.

The thing is that a lot of hard work has to go into making something like a good kids' show, compared to the little work that goes into watching it! It's sometimes hard to notice all the hard work (including choosing plot devices), but when clearly not much work has gone into it it's suddenly really obvious. You don't have to be super-analytical to be put off by it, or even notice.

The heavy-handedness really is getting a bit much in Korra. I'm still holding out and watching each episode and having fun, but I don't really know why they decided that aiming for a slightly older audience/having older characters = just more relationship drama, apparently? I felt that Aang's cycle had really interesting and poignant themes, and was occasionally quite wise, and then Korra's just... a bunch more generic. But it's okay.

Still needs to try making the main characters interesting for once, though.

I didn't say that you should pick it out, I just said that I think the producers chose what to do correctly when accounting in other factors :P

 

[Aisling]

Spoiler

Well, I was right about Tarrlok being Yukone's son, but I didn't think it was him bending the courtroom, since his hands were cuffed up- since when could waterbenders bend without moving their hands?? (my sister suggests he was bending with his eyes) I call plothole

Also HOLY FUCK AMON IS SCARY

and finally, Makorra kind of upsets me. Now, I do ship Borra, but that's not why. I wish Mako would just be honest with Asami. She seems like a wonderful person but it's so obvious now who Mako likes more. I guess for a Makorra shipper those scenes where Mako goes out of his way to fuss over Korra were really nice, but for me they were painful to watch. During TLA's run, I accused them of purposely tugging on shippers' heartstrings with The Waterbending Scroll and the season 2 finale and the random smatterings of Toph crushing on Sokka, but now they're blatantly pandering, and it just really rubbed me the wrong way. I really hope Korra and Mako don't get together, if only for how contrived it would be.

Excited for the finale aaaaaa

 

[Minish]

I didn't say that you should pick it out, I just said that I think the producers chose what to do correctly when accounting in other factors :P

Probably not? I'd like to give the creators more credit, too. It's always been a pretty intricate, consistent show!

Oh god, it's time for the finale already? And yeah, Makorra and the shipping in general is really tiresome because I'm literally not caring about it at all. Apart from Korrasami, of course, which is canon as day. Moderately sad about

Spoiler

Tenlin being a thing because boring and I don't really want Lin's characterisation to be that she became much grumpier and harsher after being jilted or dumped in favour of Pema or whatever happened. :C Why can't she just be awesome by nature?

 

[Aisling]

Moderately sad about

Spoiler

Tenlin being a thing because boring and I don't really want Lin's characterisation to be that she became much grumpier and harsher after being jilted or dumped in favour of Pema or whatever happened. :C Why can't she just be awesome by nature?

I think she is just that way, and that that was part of the reason why it didn't work out between the two of them. She probably was/is still a little bitter about it but that's a long time to hang on to something like that and let it define you. Tenzin did say they had their differences...

edit: I feel like I should say something positive about this episode though, because there were parts I liked. Meelo is still adorable as fuck and the scene where he's sleeping with his parents was really cute. I also liked the flashbacks, it was really cool to see the old Team Avatar (I liked Gaang better, why didn't it ever catch on? I mean, I guess I know why it did, but it's much shorter and easier to say!) as adults, but still themselves. I hope we find out more about what became of all of them.

edit 2:

Spoiler

this post sums up my feels quite nicely!!

 

[Phantom]

Arg, I am behind a few episodes, but I am sooo tempted to read the spoilers.

Also, can they please come up with another word for bending? I laugh every time they say it, it's like a drinking game every time they say 'bender'

 

[Aisling]

Arg, I am behind a few episodes, but I am sooo tempted to read the spoilers.


Also, can they please come up with another word for bending? I laugh every time they say it, it's like a drinking game every time they say 'bender'.

I was going to make a comparison similar to "that's like trying to come up with another word for breathing" but there kind of are.. like... panting, gasping, inhaling/exhaling. I just can't think of a good example.

It is kinda weird that a thing as old as bending that comes as natural to many people as, well, just existing, doesn't have more than one word to describe it.

 

[Phantom]

Spoiler

I just saw the blood bending bit. Ew blood bending. I seriously wanted to beat the crap out of that guy. C'mon Kora, kick his ass AVATAR STYLE.

 

[Aisling]

*CRYS*

Spoiler

omg this episode MAKO IS AN ASSHOLE meelo was so cute BUT LIN! NOT LIN! OMG

AND IROH

OH MY GOD

THIS EPISODE

edit:

Spoiler

OH MY GOD EVERYONE IS RELATED TO AANG NOW?? Korra cast family tree for those who haven't seen it and don't know who the guy on the left is

Spoiler: gif