In 2014, the Legend of Korra became the first
mainstream American kids’ show to depict two queer female main characters in a relationship
with each other, and it ushered us in to a new era, where shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time are more free to openly depict queer relationships. But the Legend of Korra was never guaranteed to break down that barrier, and it almost didn’t. This is the story of how the Legend of Korra
made history. ♪ dramatic music ♪ Following on from the success of Avatar: The
Last Airbender, the series creators, Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, collectively
referred to by the fandom simply as “Bryke”, pitched a sequel of sorts to Nickelodeon. It would take place 70 years after the events
of The Last Airbender, and it would feature the next avatar, a girl named Korra. But the executives at Nickelodeon weren’t
too thrilled at the prospect of the main character being a girl, and asked the creators to make
the main character a boy. The Nickelodeon execs thought that boys wouldn’t
watch a show about a girl. But that’s not the story Bryke wanted to
tell, and they were ready to walk away if the execs didn’t back down. Thankfully, test screenings came back positive,
with young boys saying that Korra was awesome, and Nickelodeon greenlit the show. Initially planned as a mini-series, the creators were given just 12 episodes to tell their story. As such, the first Book of The Legend of Korra
-- which is basically just what they call seasons -- ends without much of a cliffhanger;
it’s kind of just its own self-contained story, and wraps up a bit too neatly. But while Bryke and the team were in production
for the first season, Nickelodeon ordered 14 more episodes, which would become Book 2. Then, shortly after the first Book finished
airing, it was announced that Nickelodeon had ordered 26 more episodes, which would
become Book 3 and Book 4. Now, the creators had the space to tell a
story more on the level of Avatar: The Last Airbender. With three more Books after the first one,
they could have a more intricate story about Korra’s growth over multiple arcs. Korra’s first season was good, but now it
had the chance to be amazing. However, Nickelodeon was still apprehensive
about the show, despite ordering so many episodes. Season 1 ended with one character killing
another, and killing himself in the process. Not exactly the most child-friendly material. But, Book 1 had an average of 3.8 million
viewers per episode across the whole season, and premiered its first episode to 4.5 million
viewers, which made it one of, if not *the*, most popular animated shows in 2012. We may never know exactly what the Nickelodeon
execs were thinking, but I think it’s safe to say they were happy to move forward with
the show despite their reservations thanks to its high ratings. Still, for Book 2, Nickelodeon decided to
move Korra from its coveted Saturday morning slot, to a Friday night slot. For an animated show aimed at kids, that really
hampered its ratings. A little over a year after Book 1’s finale
aired (which is a long wait for a kids’ show), Book 2 premiered to 2.6 million viewers. It began in the 7pm time slot, and about halfway through the season moved to an 8pm time slot instead. Book 2 ended up averaging about 2 million
viewers per episode in 2013. While those were less-than-stellar ratings
compared to its first season, it’s also important to note that The Legend of Korra
was streaming online at the same time, and its online and social presence was huge. We don’t have stats for their online streaming
numbers, but viewers could stream the show for free on Nick.com, so the TV numbers alone
definitely don’t tell the whole story. Book 2 is where The Legend of Korra starts
to find its feet. Knowing they have more episodes coming, it
starts to set up a lot of arcs that won’t be fully resolved until Book 4. Its main villain is… lackluster, but the
rest of the characters are incredible, and the plot is fascinating. Now, its June 27th, 2014, and Book 3 premieres
on TV to only 1.5 million viewers. This premiere was announced only about a week
in advance, and caught a lot of people off-guard who thought they wouldn’t see an announcement
for the premiere of Book 3 until at least Comic Con at the end of July. But, thanks to leaks of a few of the Spanish-dubbed
episodes of Korra in early June, it seemed that Nickelodeon decided to air the official
episodes sooner rather than later. Only the first 8 episodes of Book 3 actually
made to TV though. Suddenly, in the middle of Book 3, it was announced that The Legend of Korra was moving online. So episodes 9-13 were actually released online only, which many saw as a huge setback for the show. At Comic Con in 2014, Bryan Konietzko explained
that the move was actually a part of a larger move to streaming for Nickelodeon, and that
Korra did much better online than on TV anyway. He did say that the sudden move to online
mid-season caught the creators by surprise and wasn’t necessarily done in the smoothest way, but he said it was a plan that had been in place earlier. So in August 2014, the Book 3 finale aired online only, and fans were unsure what to expect for Book 4. Despite Book 3 being arguably the best season
so far, with intense themes, amazing character development, complicated villains, and stunning
visuals, Korra’s future seemed uncertain. Only two months later, in October 2014, Book 4 premiered online only to incredible support from the fandom. It takes place three years after the events
of Book 3, and follows Korra as she copes with her trauma, both physically and mentally. Book 4 is arguably the best in the entire
series, and many fans were disappointed that it wouldn’t be shown on TV. But then, it was -- or at least part of it. Episodes 1-8 were online only, but then, in
a move that surprised nearly everyone, Korra came back to TV for episodes 9-13, except
this time it was on the Nicktoons channel at 9pm. So, after starting off on Nickelodeon on Saturday
mornings, Korra moved to Friday evenings at 7pm, then Friday evenings at 8pm, then was
removed from TV mid-season and only available online, then came back to TV mid-season but on a different channel called Nicktoons at 9pm. Now, if you find that confusing, imagine being a kid just trying to watch your cartoon with that schedule. It doesn’t seem like Korra was setup for
success by the network; in fact, it seems like the network almost always had a contentious
relationship with the show. And in spite of that, it went on to make history. On December 19th, 2014, the Legend of Korra
finale was released. And as if the finale was one big metaphor
for how the series as a whole was treated by Nickelodeon, it aired at different times
depending on how you watched it. It was released online exactly at midnight
eastern time on Friday December 19th, so basically really late in the evening on Thursday December
18th. If you were on the west coast, you could see it at 9pm on Thursday December 18th, thanks to timezones. But if you waited to watch it on TV, you wouldn’t
see it until 10pm on Friday December 19th. Why the super late timeslot? Well, I have a guess. This is Korra and Asami, known by their ship
name, Korrasami. They met in the first book when Asami was
dating Mako, the guy that Korra had a crush on. As you can probably guess, this led to some
predictable love triangle stuff in the first book, which eventually leads to Mako and Asami
breaking up, and Mako and Korra start dating. By the end of the second book, though, Korra
and Mako decide to be just friends, and that’s when we start to see things blossom between
Korra and Asami in Books 3 and 4. In Book 3, we see hints of something developing
between Korra and Asami as they go through experiences that drive them closer together. In the first episode, Korra is sad about her
low approval ratings in Republic City, but Asami is there to comfort her. Then Asami teaches Korra how to drive and
Korra says it’s nice to have a girlfriend. She means it in the friend-that’s-a-girl
kind of way at this point, but this is an important scene in that it shows how much
they’re bonding and making time for each other and being patient with each other. The next episode, Korra needs to go on a mission
so Asami brings her an entire airship. Then Korra splits up from the main group to
do her own mission, and she only brings Asami with her, showing how much she trusts her. When they get back to Republic City, we see Asami help Korra take out her frustration with some sparring. And when they go on another mission and need to split up, guess who Korra’s with -- Asami, obviously. When they’re attacked and Korra is in a
meditative state that they can’t get her out of, Asami runs away with her on the back
of a polar bear dog to protect her. They end up getting captured and go through a really difficult time together, something that brings them even closer together. Asami then literally rips a metal bar out
of the wall to free herself so that she can escape and steal the keys from a guard to
free Korra. After that, they crash land in a desert and together figure out a way to escape and find the nearest town. Later, Korra says she needs to go back into
a meditative state, and Asami immediately offers to watch over her while she’s meditating. Then she leaves for a mission and hugs Asami,
Mako, and Bolin before she goes, but Asami is the only one she exchanges words with,
telling her to be careful. When Korra is badly hurt and poisoned, and
Suyin is trying to pull the poison out of her, the camera pans to the nearby Mako and Asami. While Mako looks worried, Asami looks absolutely
distraught and is holding both her hands to her chest because she’s so intensely worried
about Korra. The next episode skips forward two weeks,
and we see that Asami has assumed the role of Korra’s caretaker, helping her get ready
for events and wheeling her around in her wheelchair. She also consoles Korra and lets her know
that it’s okay that she’s not feeling better yet, and she says: “I want you to know that I’m here for
you. If you ever want to talk or… anything.” And that’s how Book 3 ends. Korra has been through hell, and Asami has been the only one who’s been there for her through all of it. The story has clearly established that Asami is the most meaningful relationship in Korra’s life. By Book 4, the hints at Korra and Asami’s
feelings for each other become even more clear. When Korra leaves Republic City to go to the
Southern Water tribe for two weeks, Asami offers to come with her, despite the fact
that she’s running a massive company in Republic City, and nobody else offers to go
with her. Asami, Mako, and Bolin all write letters to
Korra while she’s gone, but Asami’s is by far the most heartfelt. She writes: “Dear Korra, I miss you. It's not the same in Republic City without you.” Korra’s two-week trip becomes three years
long as she copes with her trauma, but at around the two-year mark, she writes back
to Asami. She asks Asami not to tell Mako or Bolin that
she wrote to her and not them. She says it’s easier to talk to Asami about
“this stuff”, meaning her trauma, and that Mako and Bolin wouldn’t understand. This is where the show makes clear that Korra’s relationship to Asami is unlike her relationship to anyone else. She’s more than a close friend -- she’s
the only person Korra really feels okay opening up to. A few episodes later, Korra finally returns
to Republic City. She meets up with Asami and Mako at a restaurant. While Mako is at the table, Asami is waiting
at the front of the restaurant to greet Korra. Asami compliments Korra’s hair and Korra
full on blushes before saying: “You’re looking snazzy as always.” Which is a cheesy compliment, but a compliment
on her appearance nonetheless. I think the blushing really cements this relationship
as something more than friends though. Because up until this point, even though Korra
and Asami have grown incredibly close, there hasn’t really been much that could be interpreted
as flirting, until this scene. Asami literally compliments Korra’s appearance,
and Korra blushes. If that happened between a guy and a girl,
everyone would immediately be hearing wedding bells, but because it happened between two
girls, the importance of this scene can be downplayed by some people. But this scene is monumental in terms of moving
Korra and Asami’s relationship forward because not only do they connect deeply on an emotional
level, but they also find each other attractive. Later that same episode, Korra, Asami, and
Mako are in pursuit of some bad guys, and while Mako sits in the passenger seat and
yells at both Asami and Korra saying that they’re doing the wrong things, Asami and
Korra work together perfectly and without words, catching the truck they were chasing with ease. As a viewer, if there was any doubt in your
mind about if Korra might go back to Mako, this scene should really solidify the fact
that Asami is the person for Korra. While Mako tells Korra to sit down because
he thinks he knows what’s best for her, Korra trusts Asami’s driving skills to get
her close enough to the truck, and Asami trusts Korra’s ability to leap down onto the truck. This scene not only moves the plot forward,
but it says a lot about who’s a better match for Korra, and why your partner should be
somebody who encourages you and trusts you rather than someone who doubts your ability. In the next episode, Korra is sitting outside
brooding and Asami comes outside to offer her some tea, which is clearly just a flimsy
excuse to talk to her. During that conversation, Asami tries to hype
Korra up and make her believe in herself. Korra mentions some bad things that have happened,
and Asami reminds her of all the good. And then there’s the final episode of Book 4, which is the finale for the entire Legend of Korra series. This is the episode that would go down in
history. Not only was it the end to an incredible series
with intense and thought-provoking plotlines, but it had the potential to be the first mainstream
American kids’ show to depict two queer female main characters in a relationship together. While other shows may have had background
characters be queer, or just been lesser-known shows in general, the Legend of Korra was
in a unique position. This was a very popular show at the time,
and even to this day nearly five years later, it still is. Plus, it’s technically a kids’ show, even
though people of all ages love it. While TV shows aimed at an older audience
have included queer characters long before The Legend of Korra came around, this was
uncharted territory. Because there are a good chunk of people who
aren’t openly hostile to the LGBT+ community, but still find queerness to be something that’s
only for adults. But it’s that prejudice that continues to
harm queer people because they grow up not seeing anyone who’s like them. Being queer is not inherently “adult”. Sometimes young girls have crushes on young
boys, and when that happens, adults tend to think it’s a cute childhood crush. But if a young girl has a crush on a young
girl, suddenly it’s inappropriate? That’s not how it works. Lots of people know that they’re queer from
a young age, and being able to accept them while they’re still young can be incredibly
meaningful for them, instead of forcing them to pretend to be something they’re not for
their entire childhood. That’s why having queerness in children’s
media is so important and why The Legend of Korra stands out among other shows with queer
characters, because being queer isn’t an “adult” thing, and normalizing queerness
for kids will help us all live in a more accepting world. This is part of why it was disappointing that Nickelodeon moved Korra to such a late time slot for the finale. Even though it was great that they brought
it back to TV, having it air at 10pm was a clear attempt at targeting an older audience, since lots of kids would already be in bed by 10pm. So, it’s now December 18th, 2014. Tons of Legend of Korra fans are on Nick.com
ready to stream the finale as soon as it goes live, waiting with baited breath to see if
this could actually happen. Because even though we had seen the hints
and the development, many of us didn’t believe that they’d actually do it, that they’d
actually make Korra and Asami canon. The queer community is used to getting queerbaited,
that is, having queer content teased only for it to not really be queer in the end. So it wouldn’t be that surprising if that
happened here. And so, we wait with anticipation. Some determined that is has to happen. Some hopeful but unsure. Some ready to be dissapointed. And then, the episode goes live. If you’re on the west coast, it’s 9pm
on the 18th. If you’re on the east coast, the clock has
just struck midnight on the 19th. Episode 12, The Day of the Colossus is first,
and it’s over before you know it. It’s now either 9:30 or 12:30 depending
on your timezone and while the show has been amazing so far, it hasn’t confirmed Korrasami yet. Next up is Episode 13, The Last Stand, and everything culminates in a massive fight in Republic City. Eventually, the dust settles on the final
fight. Varrick and Zhu Li get married. After the wedding, Korra talks to Mako, and
while the words they exchange are super nice, they’re obviously platonic, and Korra leaves
the wedding to stare emotionally into the distance, which has kind of become her signature
thing. At this point, the episode is almost over. Korra’s scene with Mako is over, so the
fans are 99% sure she isn’t getting back with him. That means it has to be Asami, right? Everyone is holding their breath. And then, someone approaches Korra from off-screen,
and… it’s Tenzin. The fandom collectively exhales. Is the story going to end like this? Will Korra have some emotional moment with
her father figure and not get a romantic ending like Aang and Katara did in the Last Airbender? But then Asami interrupts them with a weak
excuse about Varrick needing to borrow something from Tenzin, and so Tenzin immediately runs
off, either oblivious to what’s happening, or happily getting out of the way for their
moment. So it’s the final scene, and Korra and Asami are sitting on the stairs staring out at the beautiful landscape. Asami says she couldn’t handle losing Korra,
and they hug. Korra then suggests that they go on a vacation,
just the two of them, and Asami agrees. So they get changed and approach the spirit
portal. Fans everywhere are screaming. This has to be it. This is the romantic ending. Korra and Asami hold hands and step into the
yellow glow of the spirit portal, almost as if they’re walking off into the sunset,
and then they turn and face each other in a way that can only be described as romantic. Beautiful music plays in the background, and
the camera fades upwards into the yellow glow. The end. And so, around the country, at 10pm or 1am,
fans are screaming with excitement. It wasn’t a finale kiss like Aang and Katara
had, but it was definitely romantic. They held hands facing each other and faded
into the sunset. There’s no way that’s platonic. Korra and Asami, for many, were confirmed
canon at this point, and we were ecstatic. But the drama wasn’t over. In the days following the finale, most Korrasami
shippers were over the moon, but some Legend of Korra viewers weren’t convinced. They thought the hand-holding was platonic, and they weren’t ready to call Korrasami canon. And so, there was some doubt. Then, about 4 days later, the creators of
the series, Bryan and Mike, each posted separately to their respective tumblr accounts. Bryan’s post was called “Korrasami is
canon.” while Mike’s was titled “Korrasami Confirmed”. In these two posts, the creators definitively stated that Korra and Asami are in a romantic relationship. That is officially canon. On top of that, Bryan’s post is lengthy
and goes into more detail. He says that they never intended for Korra
to get back with Mako, and that as Korra and Asami’s relationship progressed, they thought
it made sense for the story for them to become a couple, and so they alluded to it throughout
the second half of the series. It wasn’t a last minute decision to make
the fans happy -- it was something that was planned much earlier on. He says that they approached the network about
having Korra and Asami together and the network was supportive -- to a degree. I think that’s why we got the hand-holding
and facing each other rather than a kiss. The network probably wouldn’t let them go
as far as a kiss, but they would let them heavily allude to it in other ways. Bryan says that he asked the composer to make
the music romantic and tender, and they framed the hand-holding shot as a direct callback
to the shot of Varrick and Zhu Li getting married just a few minutes earlier. He even says that while it’s not a slam
dunk for queer representation, it is “hopefully a somewhat significant inching forward”. Korra went as far as it could while airing
on Nickelodeon, and while the fans may have wanted more, it was a big step nonetheless. Kids who stayed up to watch the finale on
Nicktoons when it aired on TV later on December 19th would see that Korra and Asami had a
special romantic connection. It’s something that parents could talk to
their kids about and explain that sometimes women love women, and that’s okay and normal. That’s a big deal for a kids’ show in 2014. And of course, you could make all sorts of
arguments about how the intention of the creator affects how you should interpret a piece of
media, and more often than not I would side with the audience’s interpretation over
the creator’s intention. But in this instance, I think the creator’s
intent is important because of the limitations put on them by the network. Had the creator’s not been limited by Nickelodeon,
I think we would have had a more obvious, undeniably queer ending to the Legend of Korra. Obviously, I don’t know for sure what went
on behind the scenes, but that’s my best guess using the information available to us. And while normally I’d say that if you want
something to be more obvious in the show, you should make it more obvious in the show, I think that’s exactly what Bryke tried to do. When they (possibly) were told they couldn’t
end it with a kiss, they did everything else they could to point to it being romantic. They had Korra and Asami confide in each other
in a way they don’t confide in anyone else. They had Korra and Asami in the final scene
together, mirroring the Last Airbender’s ending with Aang and Katara. They even put Korra and Asami in the same
pose as Varrick and Zhu Li had during their wedding. In fact, there’s a couple other times that
pose is used, and it’s always romantic. Kuvira and Bataar Jr. hold hands like that
when planning to get married. P’li and Zaheer hold hands like that when
telling each other how much they love each other. And yeah, Kuvira does shoot Bataar with a
giant cannon, and P’li is murdered by Suyin before Zaheer is imprisoned -- but the point
is, at the moment they used that pose, it was always to display romantic feelings for
each other. The creator’s even used the music in the final scene with Korra and Asami to hint at their feelings. The song at the end of the Last Airbender,
when Aang and Katara kiss, is called The Avatar’s Love. And in the score for the final scene of The
Legend of Korra, even though it’s an original song, you can hear bits that are reminiscent
of The Avatar’s Love in it. The notes are similar, and the instrument
used for those notes, a kalimba, isn’t used much over the course of the two series except
in these songs. Here’s a short clip from the Aang and Katara
song: ♪ slow music ♪ And here’s the similar clip from the Korrasami song: ♪ slow music ♪ You’ll also notice that the end of the Korrasami
song sounds like a slowed down version of the notes from The Avatar’s Love: ♪ slow music ♪ Obviously, The Avatar’s Love wasn’t just
copy-pasted into the finale song for the Legend of Korra, but the music is intentionally calling
back to that. It’s an effort to point the viewer towards
Korra and Asami’s relationship being romantic not only from a storytelling or framing perspective,
but from a musical one as well. And I think all of those aspects of creator
intention matter because they were trying so hard to point the viewer in a specific
direction, even if heteronormativity might make some people ignore all of that. And so, that’s how the Legend of Korra made history. After a slow start with the first 2 Books,
followed by issues actually being on TV with Books 3 and 4, The Legend of Korra finally
managed to have a finale air online and on TV in which the two main female characters
end up in a relationship together. It may not have been the biggest win ever
for queer representation, but it was an important one, making it just a little bit easier for
future kids’ shows to introduce queer characters. And I know that to many people, myself included,
The Legend of Korra was incredibly powerful in helping us figure out who we are and accepting that about ourselves. I should also mention that even though The
Legend of Korra TV show is over, the story still continues in graphic novel form. Quick spoiler warning here for those books. In a 3-part series called Turf Wars, that’s
Turf with a “u”, Korra and Asami are confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt to be queer. In these books, which are officially licensed
and canon, Korra and Asami kiss, Korra introduces Asami to her parents as her girlfriend and
has a whole awkward coming out thing with them, and Kya, Aang’s daughter, comes out
as queer when talking to Korra and Asami. They’re really incredible books, and I would highly recommend them if you enjoyed The Legend of Korra TV show. This is not sponsored, I just love this series
and these books so much. There’s also another Legend of Korra graphic
novel series called Ruins of the Empire, with Part One already being available and Part
Two on its way, but I haven’t had a chance to pick up that series yet, so I can’t say
much about it. Anyway, if you liked this video, I could really
use your support over on Patreon. These videos take a lot of time and effort
to produce, and I put them on YouTube for free, which means I’m funded largely by
the folks over on Patreon. So if you appreciated this lengthy look into
the story behind The Legend of Korra, it would mean the world to me if you could support
me on Patreon and help me make more videos like this. You can also give this video a thumbs up, leave a comment, subscribe, and share it with a friend if you want. Thanks so much for watching, and I’ll see
you next time.
