Originally posted on August 23, 2014 at benseidel.blogspot.com. That blog now features my sports articles exclusively, so I thought this would be better suited over here. It was my first attempt at writing of this kind, and so I ask you to bear with any sloppiness. I plan to get much more new content on this blog soon, but this will have to do for now.
WARNING: Heavy spoilers for The Legend of Korra follow. Please do not read this unless you're all caught up through Book 3's season finale or have no intention of ever doing so (but trust me, you definitely do).
Now that The Legend of Korra has concluded its third season, I feel that some reflection is needed in order to truly appreciate how excellent these last 12 episodes were and how they potentially saved the show from eternally living in its predecessor's shadow. It's not that there's any real shame in being eclipsed by the legendary Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the sequel series had fallen into a rough patch with what was arguably a mediocre second season filled with strange decisions and frustrating character inconsistencies. Many fans of this universe, myself admittedly included, were clamoring for a return to the old days of the ever-so-lovable original Team Avatar; this new format of Korra, filled with teenage drama and rushed self-contained stories, was starting to grate on the nerves. People started losing interest in the series, writing off Korra as a wholly unlikable protagonist and claiming that the writing had taken a nosedive during the majority of Book 2. The writing team would have to deliver a fresh start to the characters and their story whenever the next season made its arrival; they would have to bring change.
Then Book 3 was announced for June 27th, and the subtitle to the season couldn't have foreshadowed the new approach to the series more accurately with one word if it tried. Change had arrived, and it would pull Korra back from the brink to deliver the best season of the follow-up series to date, even rivaling the most memorable moments of Aang's epic journey.
Arguably the biggest complaint from Legend of Korra's followers regarding Book 2 was how obnoxiously out of character most of the new Team Avatar had become following what was established in the well-received first season. Bolin had transitioned from a humorously awkward, lovable comic relief character into an arrogant and condescending actor who was more concerned with his new-found stardom than the safety of his friends. Asami, formerly an extremely strong female protagonist with a heavily independent mindset, degraded into a helpless damsel in distress for the purpose of Mako's horribly forced love triangle. Speaking of which, yes, Mako still carried over his fickle romantic interests from the Equalist arc, but this time turned up to 11, abandoning Korra after a frustrating breakup in order to halfheartedly pursue Asami, the latter of whom he would once again throw to the wayside after Korra defeated Unalaq.
But, as far as I'm concerned, no character's growth was more infuriating to witness than that of Korra. She was designed to be the antithesis of Aang in order to bring something fresh to the protagonist's role, and it worked in Season 1, offering both the positives (rebelling against Tenzin helped her to learn airbending technique) and the negatives (challenging Amon one-on-one? Yeah, ok.) of such a headstrong character. However, despite her blunt nature, there was no excuse for the monumentally poor decisions that she made. In almost every scenario during the first half of the season, Korra chooses a path that causes nothing but trouble for her and her comrades. From threatening to kill the President to abandoning Tenzin for her uncle Unalaq (who was not well disguised as the villain at all. More on that later.), Korra had become, to not-so-subtly censor the fans' favorite expression for her, an unbearable female dog. Even her final decision to allow spirits to roam the physical world, after having learned true spiritual guidance from Tenzin and grown into a more understandable character, was questionable.
Enter Book 3.
It was immediately apparent right from the season premiere, aptly title "A Breath of Fresh Air", that the new Team Avatar and their relations to others were going to be returned to their former glory, and to leave it at that would be a dramatic understatement: by the end of Change, Bolin, Asami, Mako and especially Korra grew into a team of compelling characters that would make the original Gaang proud. Bolin was, for the first time in the series, not just treated as a standard comic relief character, but also as a formidable fighter with a compelling love attachment that felt worthy of supporting. Sure, he still had some of the best lines of dialogue that would make even the most cynical viewer chuckle ("And then she dies!"), but his reveal as a lavabender finally gave him a much-needed upgrade as a bender, and his romance with Opal felt, to me at least, genuine and adorable, not forced and full of angst (Eska? Forget that.). Asami returned to form as a formidable combination of cleverness and combat abilities, even having an entire episode dedicated to her ability to think quickly and engineer a vehicle to save everyone's lives (Oh yeah, plus being amazing at Pai Sho). She even got her moments to shine during the relentless finale, which further empowered non-benders in a way that would make Sokka and Suki fans proud. Mako took somewhat of a back seat during this season, which was probably for the best after fans groaned about his role during Air and Spirits, but was a considerably more likable and competent character whenever he did take the spotlight. Having him become a police officer meshed wonderfully with his brooding personality and allowed him to show off his intellectual strengths during the recruitment of Kai and leading up to the stakeout. His emotional side was drastically less intrusive, but was, surprisingly, well-constructed; his dealings with Korra and Asami felt perfectly awkward, genuine, and hilarious, and his encounter with his grandmother showed that he isn't just some angst-ridden teenager. And yes, he actually won a fight this season. Hooray for the triumphant return of lightning bending!
But it was Korra who achieved the most triumphant growth of the season, not only returning to the character she was established to be in Book 1, but actually becoming, for the first time thus far, a protagonist that I feel compelled to root for and one that I felt genuine sympathy towards by seasons end, where she is literally and figuratively broken. She's still much different from the whimsical reluctance of Aang; that's never going to change. After her story arc this season, however, I wouldn't have it any other way. Finally her character seems to make sense and counter Aang's in a way that doesn't make her seem unlikable. Aang's peaceful nature and unwillingness to fight in a world that needs him made him worth rooting for, but Korra is the opposite, and that's now OK. The season showed that she's completely ready to accept her role as the Avatar and change the world, but the world may not be ready to accept her. It might not even need her anymore, as explained by the villains during Korra's hallucinations. This ideal is completely polar to Aang's, but unlike the previous season, it doesn't come off as blunt or hotheaded when displayed in Korra. It evokes sympathy by giving the protagonist a reasonable and understandable fear, and it makes her emotionally vulnerable. Whether or not she's permanently disabled remains to be seen, but one thing cannot be mistaken: Korra is emotionally broken, and it's going to take time to fix. And, for the first time in the series, I genuinely and wholly care. I'm concerned. I want Korra to rebound from the turmoil that she's gone through and is sure to go through in Book 4. I cannot say that about the end of Book 2, or even the ending of Book 1, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Speaking of Book 1, that brings me to another one of this season's triumphs where the other two have failed: the
villains. Now, don't get me wrong, Amon and his Equalists were a force to be reckoned with during Korra's time in Republic City, and the masked man always presented an intriguing and challenging obstacle for Team Avatar to overcome. He was cunning, intimidating, and was voiced by Steve Blum; essentially, he was an incredible concept for a villain, and was executed phenomenally during the majority of the first season. But his character was ultimately damaged by time constraints; the show only had 12 episodes to work with at the time, and so his tragic coming-of-age story and climactic showdown with Korra ultimately felt quite rushed. As for Book 2's Unalaq... well, more like the opposite of Amon. He had a very poor, archetypal concept (the wronged sibling), but the twist with him becoming the Dark Avatar presented an example of turning a mediocre villain into something interesting with thoughtful execution. Unfortunately, Unalaq himself was still as bland as Fire Lord Ozai in the original Avatar (I probably just opened myself up for the hate flood, but so be it) and he felt ultimately unsatisfying to have Korra defeat, especially when his season's finale devolved into deus ex machinas and fighting energy giants that felt very out of place.
Once again, Book 3 delivered to make the series that much stronger.
I love villains more than any character role in literature or film, and to have a thoroughly great one is, in my opinion, what can set an incredible work apart from a mediocre one. After all, Azula was my favorite character from the original series. The sense of pervasive danger that a worthy antagonist can bring to a world and the characters that inhabit it is an essential aspect of building tension, and having the protagonists ultimately conquer or succumb to that threat can make the payoff of joy or grief that much more extreme.
Enter Zaheer and the Red Lotus. Not only are they basically a villainous version of Team Avatar, but they're also considerably adept benders that are perfectly capable of achieving their goals. From the very minute each of them appears on screen, they present an immediate danger to whichever authority figure may be around. It's apparent from watching even a small portion of their bending talent that each of them is unique, creative, and deadly. Yet, despite their violent acts, their goals are quite understandable from their point of view: throwing the world into complete anarchy by dispatching world leaders is, as far as Zaheer is concerned, the only way to restore true balance to the people. This is not an original concept for a villain's motivation, but it doesn't have to be when the execution is so flawless. Unlike in season's past, Book 3 actually convinces you that Zaheer is justified before he even reveals his intentions. President Raiko banishes Korra from Republic City for trying to help the civilians, and the Earth Queen follows suit after Team Avatar rescues her "airbending army." None of these acts from the Avatar can be considered to be against the greater good of the people, nor bad decisions (another aspect of Korra's character that saw drastic improvement), yet these high-ranking politicians punish her for doing something that seems ethically right. Thus, the viewer actually grows to loathe both Raiko and the Earth Queen, especially the latter. So, when Zaheer finally reveals his goals for chaos, it actually makes sense and gives him a sense of ambiguity that the other antagonists have yet to match. It also further increases the tension by presenting the possibility that Korra may agree with Zaheer and join his forces (or, at least, it did for me).
But the achievement that is the Red Lotus doesn't end there, as Zaheer actually manages to accomplish his goals and establish himself as a considerable threat, a process that also darkens the tone of the show in a way that feels organic. For starters, he murders the Earth Queen in cold blood, the turning point in the season that was presented almost flawlessly. From the creative use of airbending for the offensive purpose of suffocation to the incredibly thought-provoking line of dialogue that Zaheer delivered during the process of killing her, this act raised the stakes to a point where Legend of Korra (and even Avatar: The Last Airbender) was previously unwilling to go: onscreen deaths. This heightened the tension considerably later on during what I believe to be the strongest episode of the season, "The Ultimatum", in which Tenzin gets brutally tortured by the Red Lotus while the episode proceeds to end on a cliffhanger, begging the question of whether or not Tenzin actually died. If it wasn't for the previous murder of the Earth Queen at Zaheer's hand, I doubt many people would have believed that Book 3 would actually kill off one of the main characters, but as such, people did due to the precedent that had been set, and it strengthened Zaheer's antagonist role even further by making his murderous streak all the more personal. The same can be said for Zaheer defeating Tonraq during the explosive finale. All the while, the rest of his team is initiating the most beautifully-animated and intense fights that the series has experienced to date. Their theme song, expertly composed by Jeremy Zuckermann, began somewhat tamely, but continued to intensify as the Red Lotus' threat grew larger throughout the season, emphasizing the growing danger and heightening the emotion of the fight scenes to a point that Legend of Korra had yet to reach.
Taking all of this into consideration, Zaheer is unquestionably the champion of Korra's cast of villains to this point. His goals and execution were admirable to the point of convincing the audience, yet his methods and personal attacks on Team Avatar made him someone worth hating at the same time. His team of benders were creative, intimidating, and worked well together to deliver the most well-executed fight scenes that the Avatar universe has yet to see. Zaheer brought the series to a new level of dark and intense that felt like a natural progression. The Red Lotus was so good that I actually didn't want them to be defeated at the end of the season, just so that they could maintain their presence as amazing antagonists in Book 4. They're the best antagonists in either series with the lone of exception of Azula (because really, who is ever going to top her?). Amon had the presence, Unalaq had the execution. Zaheer has both.
- Zaheer was incredible. Books 1 and 2 couldn't come close to comparing to the threat of the Red Lotus.
I suppose could mention the top-notch animation by Studio Mir that sees a wonderful return to glory after the disaster that was the first half of Book 2's visuals by Studio Pierrot. I could mention how the soundtrack is better than ever, especially with the Red Lotus theme growing with every episode as their threat level increases (I already did, I believe). I could even insist that the newly-aired finale is the best conclusion to a story arc that Legend of Korra and its characters have yet to receive, and that it's not close. But I needed to address why it's important to witness Book 3 in its entirety before prematurely judging the series and writing it off as a show that will forever walk in Aang's shadow. The characters that have previously been so frustrating to witness have regained their charisma, especially Korra, who now feels like a protagonist that has dealt with hardship, had her ideals morphed in a positive way, and faces identifiable struggles that I wholly want to see her overcome. The side characters, too, feel like people worth supporting now that the melodramatic teenage drama has given way to more believable and supportable traits and relationships. Zaheer presented an unexpectedly phenomenal villain with his concept and execution having been perfectly realized, as he connected with the viewership in very subtle but effective ways and controlled the tone and pace of the show, the former of which got satisfyingly dark.
For the first time since Amon's endgame, I'm excited for the future of this series. If Book 4 is anything like Book 3 is, we're in for a marvelous conclusion to a series that has now managed to achieve what I thought was previously impossible: to step outside the intimidatingly large shadow of Avatar the Last Airbender and become something worth watching on its own.
Change is good.
-Ben Seidel
