The Legend of Korra’s Greatest Episode - Korra Alone

i'm tired katara i'm so tired korra alone shares its name with one of avatar the last airbender's best episodes zuko alone which followed zuko's journey into an earth kingdom village rediscovering who he is and his identity korra alone shares the same dna especially considering the use of flashbacks however in cora's case these flashbacks fill in the gap that make up the past three years since her fight with zaheer korra alone delivers what is in my opinion the series greatest episode one that even rivals the great episodes of the last airbender and this is why it's my favorite episode of the 2012 series looking at the parallels between zuko alone and korra alone in its my new details they are similar both zuko and korra venture into unknown territory appearing much different than they normally do as stated it's an episode that's heavy on the flashbacks just as zuko alone was however on a larger level these are both journeys of characters who have lost and are trying to find their identity the very first scene of cora alone is her looking at her broken reflection which symbolizes the state of her mind and her body fractured cora's mightiest foe isn't zahir or oman or any of the other villains she's faced but rather herself more specifically her own mind as she goes out onto the street and sees a version of herself that has been stalking her evil korra as i'll call her a figment of cora's mental illness who appears as how she was when she was fighting zaheer this was a version of korra that was almost primal the darkest and most dangerous version of herself an avatar without restraint or compassion one could say the former cora and as the citizens gather around her trying to help her they don't realize it's the avatar and it really settled for me that this has been a unique journey further this is replicated when she encounters the merchant aang was recognized everywhere he went often praised and most of all needed but the citizens don't even recognize korra the girl who wanted nothing more than to be needed i can't state enough how much korra reveled in the idea of being the avatar along with the fact that the avatar isn't in stellar form mentally this takes a toll on her and as the episode continues it takes us back three years prior shortly after cora's fight with sahir that left her paralyzed and after weeks of not eating or sleeping weeks of depression it's so clear how the young avatar has changed this is the girl who was once so passionate and bold cora was on top of the world cora was so strong but when she cries in her mother's arms when she's on her bed reading the letters of her friends cora looks so dejected and defeated this is the avatar at her lowest and her frustration reaches its peak when she yells at katara for not being able to heal her which has shades of aang in the desert while the stakes might not be as high or as pressing for korra it is this is a girl who bent three out of the four elements when she was just a child walking running bending have all become a part of her dna korra isn't ever just korra she is the avatar she is a bender and so her lashing out at katara is out of the helplessness that she feels much like how aang felt having all the power in the world but not being able to find his friend i'm sure katara saw the young helpless airbender in the desert in that moment one that needed her guiding hand and katara in this episode really displayed her signature heart and compassion cora's frustration leads her to taking her first steps and while they are just first steps they can often be the most important but what this episode does is go beyond physical treatment and looks at mental health and mental illness this episode showed the grueling and lonely path that is healing because it is such a personal journey cora was only supposed to be gone for a few weeks those few weeks turned into six months and later three years and korra still wasn't fully healed physically she was a little bit weaker her bending wasn't up to par but that could be improved for the most part she was okay but most of all cora was dealing with post-traumatic stress she couldn't access the avatar state and she was depressed all repercussions from a fight that happened three years ago korra alone conveys the idea that healing isn't a one week or a one seen thing korra alone is the beginning of her healing but it isn't the end of it either healing takes time and effort most days aren't as hopeful and as successful as the day she was able to take her first steps and we know that the avatar isn't the most patient person sometimes that's rude in their personality but it's in their role as well they don't have time to take three years off people need help and they need it as soon as possible but with korra she wasn't trying to end a hundred year war no korra was fighting for her purpose as the avatar fighting for her worth she wanted to be needed again and so when tenzin tells her that kuvira is already handling things he essentially reinforces what korra has been told for the past three seasons and for the past few years that the avatar isn't needed when kuvira's rise begins again there are shades of aang while aang was stuck in the iceberg firelord sozen began his plan for the fire nation now as korra is unable to return kuvira is beginning her plan for the earth kingdom's expansion and like in the awakening the hurt avatar is trying to rush themselves back into action when they can't for aang it was physically and now korra it's mentally korra is being forced to learn that the world is trying to move on with or without the avatar and korra desperately wants to regain her purpose in that world and while all of her friends are fighting their own purpose in new opportunities to help that world cora is healing and in her mind she isn't helping which emphasizes again that the world is changing but she hasn't fully changed yet the capacity for change is there but it's in chorus nature to not rely on anyone but her own abilities while korra was okay physically through evil korra and flashes of zaheer they were able to illustrate the terror of korra's mental state when she entered the bending competition she tried to face herself head-on but she lost and that perspective of korra trying to fight evil cora was such a powerful moment the cinematography and the choreography of this scene really places you into korra's headspace and it illustrates to the viewer how real and tangible it is to suffer from her mental illness through cora's perspective of fighting evil quora it begs the question how do you fight that if it feels so real all of this is happening in cora's head and in a split second everything goes back to normal that's what cora sees day in and day out even when she ran away she was always being taunted by her own mind evokora's constant appearances display the exhaustion and relentlessness of mental illness and how her mind was a literal battlefield one that was volatile throughout the entire episode korra felt that she needed to heal alone and so she rejected the spirits and even rejected asami's offer to join her all of the people willing to help her from her mother to asami katara tenzin and toff she still felt so alone and with the severance of her connection to her past lives cory didn't have anyone to ask for guidance and so she continued to struggle with who she truly was but she would eventually learn that she would have to rely on others even her former enemies to heal she would learn that the avatar is never truly alone cora in this episode also cut her hair and changed her clothes to symbolize a new beginning much like iro and zuko did after being branded as traitors to the fire nation the legend of korra when looking at it in comparison to its predecessor something it lacked were these character episodes episodes like the desert like zuko alone like the beach that don't necessarily advance the larger plot of the world but explores the inner workings of their characters and how they react in certain situations but korra alone managed to do both of these things and the outcome was one of avatar as a whole's greatest episodes in classic avatar fashion it was able to tell a beautiful story one that felt so much longer than 22 minutes it was able to evoke great amounts of emotion and set up the rest of the season all while managing one of the best moments of the series the reunion of toff and twinkle toes korra alone marks the beginning of healing the beginning of korra and asami and the quest towards balance humility and compassion korra alone is the beginning of korra's quest towards a renewed confidence korra alone through her perspective made me understand mental illness just a little bit more and considering all of these points cora alone truly is in my opinion the legend of korra's greatest episode nice to see you again twinkle toes you

Channel: Sage's Rain

Views: 220,161

Keywords: avatar the last airbender, atla, legend of korra, korra, avatar korra, korra alone, book 4, aang, avatar aang, zuko alone, zuko, asami, katara, zaheer, toph

Id: UUWryBDco9k

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2020