When it comes to any kind of creative work,
there are few things harder to do than follow up a project that is widely considered to
be a masterpiece. No matter how good the new project is, it
will always be scrutinized against something that people cherish and often view as infallible. And this is the nearly insurmountable task
that Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dimartino were faced with when creating The Legend of
Korra. I love Avatar: The Last Airbender, and since
releasing my video on it, I’ve wanted to talk about The Legend of Korra; because when
it comes to Korra, I feel conflicted. On one hand, it delivers some truly powerful
moments—giving viewers the chance to peer into the lives of raw and flawed characters
who deal with hardships in ways that I still find myself connecting with today; on the
other hand, it moves too quickly and clumsily to earn all of its powerful moments and it
expects viewers to care about things that they were never really set up to care about. When watching I find myself being moved by
the show’s narrative while also feeling frustrated by it, and this stems from how
it is structured. Each season more-or-less operates as its own
story that leads into the next instead of focusing on an single clear overarching plot
the way its predecessor does. The Last Airbender centers around one primary
goal: defeating the firelord to end the war before the Fire Nation wipes out the rest
of the world. To do this Aang needs to master the four elements,
which he does under the tutelage of his companions, Katara, Toph, and Zuko. Sokka helps too. There is a goal for the series and goals for
each season, and as these are met, all of the major characters have substantial arcs
where they grow into the heroes they need to become. The development of the main cast affects the
main plot, which winds up making the rest of team Avatar feel as important as Aang. On top of that, almost every episode ties
into the main plot, giving a sense that any moment is important to the story. The Legend of Korra centers around Korra. Each season has its own arc, but the closest
thing to an overarching storyline is Korra’s struggle to find her identity, something she
inches closer to by defeating each villain she confronts. The most important relationship in any given
season is between Korra and her foe, which is something The Last Airbender explored with
the relationship between Zuko and, well, pretty much everyone, but here it is the focal point
of Korra’s development. Where Aang learns from the people who have
become his friends, Korra learns from her enemies. This is a cool inversion, and I like that
Korra doesn’t follow the exact same path as Aang. In fact in terms of self-discovery and battling
adversity, Korra’s arc is much closer to Zuko’s, which is a good thing because Zuko’s
arc is the best one in The Last Airbender, and honestly maybe in anything ever. While Korra’s personal journey never reaches
the same heights as Zuko’s, watching her struggle over and over to figure out how she
fits into the world is something I found both familiar and compelling. While there is nothing wrong with stories
that focus more on the development of a single character and less on any sort of overarching
plot, the issue is that there isn’t enough time in each season to properly explore any
character’s growth other than Korra’s, but the writers still tried to. Given the greater focus on contained seasonal
arcs, each one requires the introduction of a new villain and conflict, and this ends
up taking up a substantial amount of time in each season, which are only around 13 episodes
long. On top of this, it has a pretty large recurring
cast. The Last Airbender has 13 characters who appear
in 10 or more episodes and have some sort of line or, uh, animal sound. And each of those characters, with the exception
of Momo, I guess, have pretty satisfying arcs. The Legend of Korra has 26 characters who
appear in 10 episodes or more in this way. While not every character in a show needs
to have an amazing story, when so much screen time is spread across this many characters
it ends up making each of them feel less important. A lot of them have interesting concepts, but
most of their potential goes untapped throughout the series. I wanted to see so much more from Lin, Jinora,
Tenzin, and the New Team Avatar, but there just wasn’t enough time. Focusing so much of the show’s limited time
on other characters even hurt Korra’s arc some, especially in the first 2 seasons where
too much time is spent on stuff that has little impact on the main plot. I think the writers wanted to tell a story
that focused on Korra AND her friends, but the constraints of the show’s structure
made it hard to do this. The Last Airbender had time for the characters
to interact without the threat of an incoming plot point, but the Legend of Korra’s plot
is always driving forward. This often leads to Korra going off and doing
her own thing while the other members of Team Avatar have somewhat inconsequential subplots. Bolin ends up having the most to do of all
the side characters, but, while entertaining it often feels like filler. Mako is just kind of boring. After he isn’t being used as part of the
contrived love triangle stuff, he is kind of just there, and only serves to look cool
during fights; in fairness, he does. And Asami...I feel like Asami should be my
favorite character in this show, as some of the most interesting stuff happens to her
but most of her moments that could have been great are rushed. This can be seen in her relationship with
her father, which had great potential, but because the show didn’t have enough time
to develop that thread over the 4 seasons, most viewers don’t care about that relationship,
so when it resolves in Hiroshi’s death, Asami is given less than 10 seconds to react
to it, and pretty much no one, fans or even the other characters, care. Where I bought that Team Avatar in The Last
Airbender were a group of best friends, I never felt the same way about the group in
The Legend of Korra, and that’s because they don’t do a good job establishing the
group’s friendship and the four of them spend so much time apart. However, they are still presented as four
best friends which seems off. In some ways, The New Team Avatar feels like
a holdover from the Last Airbender meant to appeal to fans of the original series. Best friends saving the world together. Obviously there needed to be more characters
than Korra, but I think the approach led to an expectation for these characters to get
the same treatment that Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko got in The Last Airbender, but between
the plot of each season and all of the other characters in the show, there just wasn’t
enough time to give them the justice they deserved. Zuko’s Agni Kai against Azula, Katara’s
face-off against the man who killed her mother, and Iroh’s return to Bae Sing Sae as a liberator
instead of a conqueror are all moments that feel built up to and earned. However, Mako’s attempted sacrifice, Asami’s
loss of her father, and Bolin’s, honestly, Bolin doesn’t even really have anything
like this, but I guess him deciding to leave Kuvira’s army—these moments don’t land
as hard, because the build up was never there. Another area where I feel conflicted is in
how they shifted the established rules and limitations of the world. The Last Airbender does an incredible job
creating an understandable and unique setting with a consistent set of rules that almost
never get broken, and when they are, the break usually has a solid explanation. The Legend of Korra breaks the rules without
providing the same type of context, often leading to a string of questions. My least favorite of these moments comes right
after Korra is separated from the Avatar spirit. She sits in the Tree of Time, turns into a
giant blue projection of herself and is transported halfway across the world to fight Unavaatu. Aang did a similar thing in The Last Airbender,
but that involved fusing with a powerful spirit and using the Avatar state, neither of which
are present here. It made me wonder why Korra was able to do
this. Was it just because she was in the Tree of
Time? Korra was technically no longer the Avatar,
so does that mean anyone could sit in the Tree of Time and turn giant and blue? If so, why didn’t anyone else do that? Why did they just leave it on her? And I know all this might sound like nitpicking,
but it is notable because The Last Airbender almost never fell victim to this sort of line
of questioning. Almost. Not only are there good reasons as to why
stuff works the way it does, but also most things are explained outright. The flow of chi, lightningbending, metalbending,
bloodbending, unlocking the Avatar state: all of these are described in interesting
ways, but The Legend of Korra doesn’t do this as thoroughly. Things like Korra airbending after Amon takes
her powers away or even just Amon’s use of bloodbending to take people’s powers
away make it so viewers have to work out and justify how it fits into the rules and limitations
of the world, which comes off as careless. With all of that said, some of my favorite
aspects of the show came from these big departures. One example of this is lavabending. I don’t fully grasp why it works, and it
adds another point to the long list of why earthbenders are OP, but it gave Bolin an
interesting arc as he failed to learn metalbending, but then observed the style of an enemy to
develop a new skill. My favorite shift came from the resurgence
of airbenders. While I don’t love the explanation as to
why it happened, it set the groundwork for my favorite villain in the show, Zaheer, and
when comparing him to the baddies of both shows, only Azula matches the level of depth
he adds to the narrative. Airbenders are a group that’s always been
associated with peace in the Avatar universe, so using the teachings of an airbending Guru
to reign anarchy across the world, is fascinating. Also, while this could have been explored
after her encounters with either Amon or Vaatu, the confrontation with Zaheer leads to Korra’s
most important arc: finding her place in the world as the Avatar after being broken down
physically and emotionally for being the Avatar. And this character arc is the heart of the
show for me. It is about a girl who fights for a world
that doesn’t give a damn about her. No matter who she helps, no matter how much
she helps, she is always met with criticism and anger, and, part of that is because of
who she is: explosive, irrational, conceited. In her efforts to find acceptance as the Avatar,
she pays tolls no one should ever have to pay. All she ever wanted to be is the Avatar, but
she is hated for it. Time and time again she is told through the
conflicts with each of her foes that the world would be better without her, that balance
would be achieved with her gone. My favorite scene of the entire show is when
Jinora is anointed as an Airbending master. Tenzin gives a speech on how they will all
follow in Korra’s footsteps and help the world in the new spiritual age. Jinora reveals her tattoos, and she looks
just like Aang, almost certainly reminding Korra that, as a leader, she hasn’t made
the impact that he did. While her successes have saved lives, it is
because of her that these conflicts escalated as much as they did. Jinora is a reminder that someone else could
be doing this better, and that guilt weighs on Korra over the next season, as other people
do the work that is expected of her, leading to her doubting if being the Avatar even matters. And I’m not positive that this arc is a
meta-commentary on how fans reacted to the first two seasons, but I am pretty sure it
is a meta-commentary on how fans reacted to the first two seasons. What is important, and it is in the subtitle
of Book 3, is that all of this brings about actual change—to the show and to the character. In Book 4, Korra struggles to find her identity
as she battles with the trauma she’s been put through. Here she actually deals with the consequences
that the previous seasons glossed over, and it culminates in her figuring out that to
move forward she needs to learn from her past while not letting it hold her back, which
she does. The final episode leaves Korra at a really
interesting point, because despite it being the end, it feels like a new beginning, and
although I know there are a ton of mixed feelings on this, I think the relationship between
her and Asami does a good job of showing this. The ending of The Last Airbender ties the
knot on a long-building romance. The ending of The Legend of Korra is just
starting one. I don’t think this is about Asami and Korra
being destined for each other the way Aang and Katara seemed to be; it’s about Korra
getting to a point in her life where she is balanced enough as a person to start a relationship. When compared to her earlier attempts at love,
this shows huge growth in my eyes. I wish Korra’s development had started earlier
in the series, however, the later seasons do an amazing job of showing her growth through
adversity, which I find relatable as hell. Korra’s arc resonated with me, and while
a large part of that comes from everything I just laid out, there are a few other major
factors as to why. First off, the score by Jeremy Zuckerman and
The Track Team is incredible. His work on both series’ deserves more praise
than I think he’ll ever get, and I say this knowing he gets a lot of praise. My point is he deserves more. Also, the voice acting throughout the series
is tremendous; the amount of talent in this cast is shocking, and their skill brings so
many scenes to life. And the animation in The Legend of Korra’s
best scenes is breathtaking. The fights are especially remarkable, and
the choreography of them captures a fluidity to bending that The Last Airbender doesn’t
even match. Along with that, despite a few visual hiccups
and some less than ideal CG elements, nearly every setting is beautifully illustrated and
awe-inspiring. With all of these things combined there are
many moments that evoke an emotional response, even without the context of a scene, and that
speaks volumes on how well the show is able to use spectacle to its advantage. There were even scenes that I felt didn’t
earn the moment, but I couldn’t help but feel that swell in my chest because of how
beautiful everything on screen was. Mike and Bryan set out to continue the story
of their world by creating something distinctly different from what they had done before while
still trying to tap into the heart of what made The Last Airbender so special, and their
efforts led to mixed results. The Legend of Korra makes many interesting
steps forward, but it also trips over itself a little too often. And in a lot of ways, it seems like the show
was destined to fall short of its predecessor. Aside from the mixture of questionable story
decisions and the high level of expectations from fans, a handful of external factors also
affected the the show. Between Nickelodeon consistently dicking them
around with whether or not they’d get more season, cuts to their budget, and even making
the show online only, I have to imagine there was a lot of scrambling in the writer’s
room to get things done in a quick and cheap fashion, which is not an ideal work environment. Based on what I’ve read in posts from Mike
and Bryan, it also seems like the network restricted them on what they could show, which
is most likely why the relationship between Korra and Asami is far more subtle than what
most people would have liked to see. Also, the absence of Aaron Ehasz, the head
writer of Avatar: The Last Airbender, certainly had an effect on how this show was paced and
presented—as a quick side note, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Aaron is the only
reason The Last Airbender was good, and they discredit Mike and Bryan’s involvement in
the show because of The Legend of Korra’s shortcomings, and I wholeheartedly disagree
with that assessment. The best comparison I can make is with The
Beatles. They were a creative powerhouse as group,
but their solo careers were, for the most part, a little shaky. The Beatles, balanced out each others bad
ideas, so instead of just getting a bunch of sappy love songs written by Paul, we got
Abbey Road. I think Mike, Bryan, and Aaron are the same
way, and without any one of those three, The Last Airbender would not be the show it is. With that said, I would have loved to see
Aaron be a part of The Legend of Korra, as he is a damn good writer. I don’t bring these things up as an excuse
and I don’t think the show’s bigger issues should get a pass, but I do think they explain
some creative decisions that were made. Ultimately, while plagued with inconsistent
pacing, underdeveloped characters, a lack of limitations, and many, many other problems,
The Legend of Korra, is still a show I find myself revisiting on a regular basis. The Last Airbender is my favorite television
show ever, and even though The Legend of Korra fell short in a lot of ways, it is still the
closest thing out there to it, which makes me care about it in a weird way. It’s finale had a huge impact on me because
I knew it most likely meant the end of Avatar—A show I thought about constantly since I first
saw it as a kid; a world I imagined being a part of; characters I found solace in. To me, the end of The Legend of Korra meant,
in a lot of ways, the end of that world, and that is bittersweet because while I am a huge
believer that when it comes to storytelling less can often be more, I could keep watching
stories in the Avatar universe forever. The Legend of Korra is not told as cleanly
as its predecessor, and there are a handful of seemingly simple changes that could have
improved the show immensely. With that said, it does still have the same
heart as The Last Airbender, allowing it to deliver powerful moments that brought up questions
about life that I never expected cartoons on Nickelodeon to ask. And for that reason, I’ll always love this
show.
Thank you for posting this! My brother and I have been going back and forth about the two series recently and this video articulates a lot of my feelings very well.
I actually prefer LoK because it gives more time to the villains. Not all are redeemable and the bad guys are more than just an ambient boogie man who's cronies are trying to catch you. The fact that TLA has only one main villain is a weakness I think.