The Legend of Korra - (7) The Aftermath

[Willsun]

LAST EPISODE: Korra's Fire Ferrets team face off against the Wolfbats in the face of Amon's threat calling the city to cancel the championships. The Wolfbats win despite blatant cheating, but soon have their bending powers taken away by Amon after the Equalists ambush and invade the arena. Amon publicly declares the start of his revolution, and escapes despite the combined efforts of Korra and Lin Beifong chasing the Equalists.



Recent relevant characters:

• Lin Beifong - Agreed to take responsibility for the security of the pro-bending championship match. Recent badass, but what will that slimy Tarrlok say after the fiasco with Amon?
• Tenzin - Lately found out to have been romantically involved with Lin Beifong in the past before their differences separated them and he marries Pema.
• The Wolfbats - Winners of the pro-bending tournament by cheating, but Amon took away all their bending powers. Karma, baby.

Other names, terms, jargon:

• Aang - The protagonist, hero, and avatar of the previous series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
• Avatar - A special individual said to embody the world's spirit who possesses the ability to use all four forms of bending at the same time. Only one living person can exist as the avatar each time, and they are said to bring peace and unity to the world.
• Bending - The ability to control and manipulate one of the four elements of the world (earth, fire, wind, water). Each style of bending is mastered through their respective form of martial arts, in which they are based off of real world archetypes.
  • Earthbending - Hung Gar
    • Metalbending - Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis, Military/SWAT close-range techniques
  • Firebending - Northern Shaolin/Wushu
    • Lightning - Northern Shaolin form #2 ("Dragon Shoots Its Whiskers")
  • Airbending - Baguazhang
  • Waterbending - Tai Chi
  • Pro-bending - Boxing/MMA/UFC
• Equalists - A rising anti-bending movement in Republic City led by Amon. They claim benders oppress non-benders and spread the message that bending must be eliminated. They resort to clandestine and violent methods to achieve their means. The Equalists use the Chinese character 平, which can mean peace, on the same level, or equal.
• Pro-bending - A popular sport pitting 3-man teams (each a different type of bender not including air) to use strategic bending to ring-out (KO) or push their opponents as far back in marked territories as possible.
• Republic City - A large metropolis founded by Aang and Zuko where they intended benders and non-benders to co-exist in peace. Designs were based off of 1920s Shanghai with elements of steampunk.

Discuss away! Korra is the hot new show and I'll be holding weekly threads for each new episode that comes out. New episodes air every Saturday (just like ponies!) at 11/10am Central on Nickelodeon, so as usual we'll have our house rules on spoiler moratorium (do not spoil in IRC at least until the midnight of the broadcast date in Pacific time). Any speculation on future/upcoming episodes should have the spoiler tag applied. This goes for any info revealed in commercials, sneak previews that did not air along with the end of the latest episode, and articles of any sort. Information on voice actors/actresses being announced for the show do not need to be spoiler tagged. HOWEVER, you SHOULD spoiler tag any information regarding what character role they will be playing. Threads on new episode threads will most likely be made sometime every Friday.

Shipping rules still apply even if this show's target audience is older than MLP. I know romance is bound to happen, and you can totally talk about it, but please do not talk about your OTP with characters not in the show, engage in shipping wars even if it's with characters in-universe, and especially any creepy comments about how you'd like to get with any of the characters. Best to err on the safe side if you have doubts.

Do not ask/talk about how to illegally obtain episodes for this show. My advice is for you to simply get cable at home to watch it or stream it from the Nickelodeon site right here. It's looking like Nick takes 3 days before they upload it on their site, so those depending on the stream should expect it up every Tuesday (not sure how early).

[Willsun]

I hope we see the Firebats members become lowly dishwashers or something now that their bending has been taken away.

Since I've never seen TLA, I don't know too much about all the Energybending, Bloodbending, etc. involving bending being taken away and all that, but I'm speculating and taking a wild swing that at the end of this series, Amon's anti-bending will be undone and his victims will get their bending back. I simultaneously wish this does and does not happen. While it can make for a great, final "spirit of the world is against you" move to Amon and a happy ending, it would totally nullify the seriousness of what an antagonist he's been. It just reminds me of another series I've watched where characters dying were a big deal, but once the bad guy started dying and losing influence, all the people who died before started coming back to life for a really cheesy final blow. It was quite a disappointing ending.

Anyway, can't wait for tomorrow's episode!

[GrimI'M THE WORLD CHAMP BETCHA CAN'T BEAT MEBALL SO HARD LITTLE GIRLS WANT A PONY]

Since I've never seen TLA, I don't know too much about all the Energybending, Bloodbending, etc. involving bending being taken away and all that, but I'm speculating and taking a wild swing that at the end of this series, Amon's anti-bending will be undone and his victims will get their bending back.

Their bending will be gone for good but won't be needed anymore. People suddenly remember that technology exists and the advantage a bender is born with soon shrinks to negligible levels.

"You don't need bending! After all, who needs bending when you have a gun?"

[SlateSlabrock]

Since I've never seen TLA, I don't know too much about all the Energybending, Bloodbending, etc. involving bending being taken away and all that, but I'm speculating and taking a wild swing that at the end of this series, Amon's anti-bending will be undone and his victims will get their bending back.

The only people who've lost their powers so far have been real scumbags, so I suspect they won't get it back. Korra, when she inevitably gets mind-crushed, will get hers back, naturally. But unless Amon spends all day for months taking away people's powers, I doubt we'll have to worry about a Beast Machines ending.

[Willsun]

Amon should really just set up a kissing booth and take away everyone's bending when they come up.

I mean really though, what's Amon's plan right now anyway? I can't see him not wanting to take away everyone's bending. He's getting non-benders to revolt against their bending superiors, and then what? Send them all to a concentration camp? Are they going to be fighting in the trenches now with the shocker hands vs. bending?

[Wayoshi]

If any Asami / Sato Equalist plotline is to show up, it will have to be right here.

[Willsun]

Someone in the SA thread said that a source was quoted mentioning that one of the seemingly non-bender females in the series is well-trained in fighting. If this is true, most fingers are pointing toward Asami. I mean, why not have her be a trained chi-blocker preying on star pro-bending athletes? It's not like Asami is connected with anyone with the machinery needed to manufacture those shocker hands or anything...

[Rainbow Dad]

When he Amon took away those mafia types bending powers away, I really felt like they were getting into some Clockwork Orange type of stuff. Sure, they're scumbags and villains but do they deserve having something that is a part of them taken away like that? When Aang took out the fire lord, taking away his bending was way worse than killing the guy. And, as far as that goes, I feel like that Aang's mercy might have something to do with this Amon guy. I think Ozai may have figured out how Aang pulled something like that off and maybe passed one what he knew to future generations until they could figure out how it works and all that. Amon might not just be going after benders but the Avatar specifically. If the avatar dies in the avatar state then that whole line of reincarnation is gone sooo maybe the same can be said when they get cut off from bending/spirit world?

Crazy speculation. I liek cartoons too much.

[Wayoshi]

Sweet episode, as the Sato revelation ends up being half-right for most predictors. Act I nicely sets up that Asami is pretty bad-ass, not the typical rich girl as she says. It was also hard not to notice that music during the race, whatever it was it contained something-of-the-times and I'M A DRIVING AN EASTERN RACECAR all in one.

For those who were around in the old series, Cabbage Man was probably the most popular minor character, starting with 105. The statue of him in the foreground set up the reference right away, nice job there. I think Sato really was trying to take advantage of the framing for his company as well (yes, Cabbage Man makes cars? Cabbage Cars? I dunno, best not to read into this too hard. Also, corrupt much? See, you go to the dark side and you lose your values man), that was a legitimate explanation by him.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who got Twilight wedding vibes from that first half, however quick it went by. Although Korra had just, in her words, pegged Asami as much better, there was probably some jealousy involved, she seemed very excited at having buds at the temple.

Poor butler guy getting abused.

I would like to airsit some babybending. Pinkie could have used that in Baby Cakes: you have magic & wings? I'll just bend you!

So that old guy under the bridge was seriously a set-up? Man... there HAVE to be some Equalists regretting joining. I'm surprised because Sato therefore was begging the semi-Korrang of Korra, Tenzin (who actually fought!) and Lin for the test run, and although that test did work out and the amount of metalbenders is going to decrease off-screen, there was of course a great familial cost.

Enough firebenders killing off family members. Why are these rogue vagabonds still around after the 100-year war, god damn.

Act III was great for me personally because of some references. Lin goes barefoot to sense the earth just like Toph, with the same visual effect of shockwaves. Then, it is perfectly explained that platinum has no impurities and therefore cannot be bended into a ball - metalbending was introduced in Ba Sing Se because most metal has bits of earth (impurities) engrained in it, and an expert earthbender can latch onto those bits to control the metal. Excellent plot hole avoidance.

So now the dynamic of Bolin (& Pabu, I suppose ), Mako, and now-definitely-good Asami are going to play out with Korra while Tenzin & Lin I suppose continue to lead the bending charge, even if unofficially. It's like there's two Korrangs at once!

("Gang" and "Aang" easily were portmanteau'ed into "Gaang" in the previous series, now I'm just going to use Korrang. )

EDIT: It looks like there will be a break coming up, episode 8 in two weeks.

[Pony Factory Factorysugoi]

nough firebenders killing off family members. Why are these rogue vagabonds still around after the 100-year war, god damn.

You say that as a throwaway, but I can think of a few possible explanations:

1) Firebending is just the most lethal, and so things turn out worst when firebenders happen to be the muggers. Nothing to see here.

2) Secondary conspiracy of firebending supremacists. I didn't see TLA, so I can't speak to the thematic appropriateness, but a conflict of two douchebags with Korra and city stuck in the middle would be an interesting and difficult problem.

3) Amon orchestrated his rise by hiring firebending killers to sow the seeds necessary for his message to take root.

[Wayoshi]

I agree the worst happens with firebenders, but for me it kinda undermines Zuko taking the Fire Nation and putting them in their place, no more abuse.

[SlateSlabrock]

I called Daddy Sato being evil and Asami being left in the dark, but now I'm not so certain she isn't a sleeper agent waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Meanwhile, Korra's not going to have any problem dealing with Koh with the friendly face she's putting on whenever Asami's around.

[SolarisKnightI don't watch many girl's cartoons. But when I do, I watch My Little Pony]

The whole reveal of Hiroshi Sato attacking people with mech suits and the secret tunnel felt like a weird lucid dream, in a way that I haven't felt since the Derpy scene in Last Roundup

[Willsun]

The whole reveal of Hiroshi Sato attacking people with mech suits and the secret tunnel felt like a weird lucid dream, in a way that I haven't felt since the Derpy scene in Last Roundup

Yeah I felt a bit of that (coincidentally watched this episode coming out of a nap) as well as being sad that such an accomplished dude really turned out to be this way. I also get that firebending muggers/murderers are most likely to do what they do, but pretty soon I'm going to say everyone's backstory is that their loved ones "got killed by a firebender."

I called Daddy Sato being evil and Asami being left in the dark, but now I'm not so certain she isn't a sleeper agent waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I'm thinking this too. Asami isn't 100% in the clear yet, but I'll like her as an addition to the Korra vigilante party all the same. Speaking of vigilante, I got really excited when Lin got all Batman and said she'd have to do things outside of the law. Badass!

EDIT: It looks like there will be a break coming up, episode 8 in two weeks.

[Wayoshi]

It does seem quite a portion of the fanbase doesn't trust Asami yet.

[LiamA]

I think I'm fine with a break. Might as well make the show last a bit longer during summer.

[Willsun]

It does seem quite a portion of the fanbase doesn't trust Asami yet.

I'd like to accept her as part of the Korra party bus, but all this clandestine business has got me paranoid. I mean, I like her voice actress well enough, but I don't know if it's because her character's demeanor feels a little bit less emotional compared to the rest of the gang that makes me feel like she's hiding something. Either the voice actress just can't hit it as well as I thought she should, or this feeling I get is deliberate and she'll show a different face later on. Anyhow, I'm warming up to her because she's showing more emotion.

Speculation: Asami's allegiance will teeter once she finds out Korra and Mako shared a kiss. It's all unresolved, after all, and pro-bending is on indefinite hiatus and Hiroshi turned out to be a traitor, so my theory that Asami finding out about the kiss as a pivot for ruining their pro-bending career funding is out.

Also for some reason I still don't feel sorry for Tahno even though they showed what a sad sack he's become. He wasn't even apologetic about his cheating and only cared about wishing revenge on Amon. If he hadn't gotten his bending taken away, he'd probably be telling the public that he could do a better job of defeating Amon than Korra can since she "lost" the finals.

[Colton, M.D.You'll read everything I post,In this man's voice.]

I guess I'm the only one who felt meh about this episode.

I mean, it definitely had some cool parts, but it lacked something to me.

[Jonathan AppleShing! Sparkle-sparkle.]

For a while there, I thought that Korra was going to be wrong about Sato the whole time, and that the guy that gave her, Tenzin, and Lin the tip about the secret factory was giving them false information, and setting them up for humiliation in the eyes of the public in order to discredit them. Like a lot of people, Bioshock immediately came to my mind when the mechs were revealed. While it's sad that Sato turned out to be one of the bad guys, I'm glad that Asami didn't see things his way. Really enjoyed the action scenes in this episode, and it was neat to see that Toph passed on her ability to sense things through the earth to Lin.

Speaking of Lin, first Spider-Man and now Wolverine. I wonder how many more abilities she's going to show off that remind me of other super heroes.



THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, MOOORPH!

[Doctor Wheeze]

Every time Chief Beifong is on screen she gets better and better. She takes after her mother

[reidransom]

Speculation: Asami's allegiance will teeter once she finds out Korra and Mako shared a kiss.

That's a pretty weak move if they go that way. I mean, changing her allegiance on something so big and important over a man. It's like the most anti-feminist thing ever.

[ArtificerGoes well with All Natural Milk Naturally Flavored with Natural Flavors.]

Every time Chief Beifong is on screen she gets better and better. She takes after her mother

Who is her mother, Azula?

[Opposing FarceDon't you smile at my faceSpit on my backDo you kiss your mother with a mouth like that?]

Who is her mother, Azula?

Toph.

[Chaos Sonic]

You say that as a throwaway, but I can think of a few possible explanations:

1) Firebending is just the most lethal, and so things turn out worst when firebenders happen to be the muggers. Nothing to see here.

2) Secondary conspiracy of firebending supremacists. I didn't see TLA, so I can't speak to the thematic appropriateness, but a conflict of two douchebags with Korra and city stuck in the middle would be an interesting and difficult problem.

3) Amon orchestrated his rise by hiring firebending killers to sow the seeds necessary for his message to take root.

Or they could all be the same firebender.

[SlateSlabrock]

Or they could all be the same firebender.

Season 1 ends with Smokey the Bear delivering the moral of the story. What a tweest!

[The great MPinke Torte das Pony.---]

Great episode.

Getting a bit tired of the "evil firebender criminals killed a family member" thing though.

What I'm not getting tired of is watching Tenzin fight

[numsOic]

Evil earthbender criminals killed my dog.

[Wayoshi]

crossed with and

[Willsun]

No new episode this week so I'll put up a new thread next week. I can't wait to see how Lin suits herself up if she resigns as police chief. That would be rad if she took with her some kind of police stealth suit or something before she quit.

[Hyper!!!I had two avatars, but the admins were able to do something about it...]

It took me forever to get around to watching this episode. So glad Asami is a bad-ass and not evil

Comments from Nick site on this episode
"Mako and Korra must be together the intense is so cool!"
"korra and mako or asami and korra"
"i am so mako"
"I think that mako and Korea will be together."

The intense in so cool is my new catchphrase.

[Willsun]

Wow, and apparently Mako loves a whole country as well. Why not.

I showed this episode to my friend on Monday and the whole time she was just absolutely convinced that Sato Corp. being evil automatically meant Asami was evil. She was like, "I knew it! I knew it! Asami's been an evil character the whole time!" When Asami kicked ass though, she was just left saying "Awwww, dangit."

[numsOic]

The intense in so cool is my new catchphrase.

"i am so mako" is mine.

[DiscordWhat have I done? Sweet Chaos, what have I done? Become a beast in the night, Become a God on the run, And have I fallen so far, And is the hour so late, That nothing remains but the cry of my hate, The cries in the dark that nobody hears, Here where I stand at the turning of years]

Finaly got around to watching this.

Well that wasn't what I was expecting. Great episode.

[Hyper!!!I had two avatars, but the admins were able to do something about it...]

Wow, and apparently Mako loves a whole country as well. Why not.

I showed this episode to my friend on Monday and the whole time she was just absolutely convinced that Sato Corp. being evil automatically meant Asami was evil. She was like, "I knew it! I knew it! Asami's been an evil character the whole time!" When Asami kicked ass though, she was just left saying "Awwww, dangit."

What have I done