It took a time jump, a
new female villain, and splitting up our heroes for a big chunk of the
season to finally push "The Legend of Korra" over the top, into the
category of sequel series that successfully live up to their
predecessors. Because of the way it was structured and because of the
fundamental differences in storytelling, "Korra" was never going to have
the same amount of impact as "Avatar: The Last Airbender." However, it
did manage to distinguish itself, develop good characters, and build up
to a great finale. Minor spoilers ahead.
With
the benefit of hindsight, it's clear that the occasional crossovers
between "Airbender" and "Korra" actually hurt the show more than it
helped it. The creators were always careful to limit the amount of
screen time and involvement that the old favorites like Katara and Zuko
had on the story, but they weren't always able to keep them from being a
distraction. That was made abundantly clear this season with the
return of Toph, who is put into the Old Master role, and at least gets
some interesting dynamics to play with when she reconnects with Lin
and the Metal Clan. However, as fun as the aged Toph is, and as much as
the series teased and hyped her appearances, she's not a big part of
this season. In fact, she explicitly declares at one point what the
creators should have made clear from the start: saving the world is the
new generation's job.
But boy does the "Korra"
gang get the job done this time. Tenzin and his family only make brief
appearances, and it probably would have been better if they'd sat this
round out entirely, since their big arcs were all wrapped up in the
third season. The episode devoted to Meelo and Ikki felt like filler.
Fortunately, every other character is firing on all cylinders: the Metal
Clan from year three, Varrick and Zhuli from year two, new comic relief
guy Prince Wu, and of course the villain Kuvira, introduced at the tail
end of the previous season. This last book of "Korra" feels like a
culmination of everything in the series pushing our heroine toward the
self-examination and personal growth that many fans had been clamoring
for. It also quietly revisits some of Korra's relationships
established in the very first episodes and pushes them in some
interesting, daring directions.
I like Korra
as a character in this last book far more than I have in the prior
ones. Here, she struggles and she fails repeatedly, and she's forced to
accept that there's no going back to the way she was - and it's for the
better. The show also does a good job of using Bolin and Mako in ways
that play to their strengths - Mako is stuck as the straight man to Wu,
making him truly sympathetic for once, and Bolin is roped in as a
well-meaning henchman to Kuvira, building up the threat she poses.
Kuvira is by far the most complicated and interesting villain that
"Korra" has featured, and if she'd had more than a season to work with,
she'd probably be right up there with Zuko and Iroh. Because she truly
believes in what she's doing, she's so confident in her powers, and she
manages to build up quite a cult of personality, Kuvira makes a good
mirror to Korra. Her campaign of conquest to form the Earth Empire also
presents so many opportunities for large scale action and mayhem.
If
nothing else, this season of "Korra" has to be commended for the action
sequences, which are consistently great. I love that nearly all the
major brawlers like Su and Lin are women. I love that they make the
effort to give all the characters their own little moments to be
awesome. The finale features multiple battles that take place in and
around a giant mecha, something I'd always wanted to see done in anime.
I don't know what it is about Earth Kingdom stories that lend so well
to big, epic battles in this universe, but boy do the creators nail it
this time. This season of "Korra," sadly is also notable for production
troubles and some truly baffling distribution decisions by Nickelodeon,
resulting in a clip show and other compromises, but they deliver when
it counts.
There are a lot of little things I
can't help wishing for: a better peek at the present day Fire Nation, a
better capper for Opal and Bolin, more Asami, and more of the Avatar
mythology in general, but I know we're lucky to have gotten as much from
"Korra" as we did. The series had its ups and downs, but in the end I
can say that I truly enjoyed "The Legend of Korra" on its own and not
just as an extension of the original "Avatar." And while I'm sad to see
it end, it lived up to its promise and went out on a high note.
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