The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra Thread

[Ameriganastan]

It's because the tattoo was fresh. Her head had to be shaved completely to finish the tattoo, the hair will grow back.

Seriously, six seasons and I never realized that.

[The IASM]

It's because the tattoo was fresh. Her head had to be shaved completely to finish the tattoo, the hair will grow back.

Seriously, five seasons and I never realized that.

That fact blew me away.

[Reploid Productions]

Just finished watching the finale, haven't read all of the past two pages, but I did skim

Non-spoiler version:
Holy fucking shit that was bloody intense.

In some ways the overall intensity of the book 3 finale possibly rivals and maybe even surpasses ATLA's finale. Certainly the situation seemed a great deal more dire and the fighting much, MUCH more intense. (Did they all but show P'li blowing her own head off? I think they did!) And ye gads, all of the feels at the ending, both the warm fuzzy feels at Jinora getting her mastery tattoos (and OMFG does she look like her grandfather when he was that age with her head shaved!!) and the major depressive downer feels at Korra's current condition.

And guys, the poison being metallic in nature isn't really a deus ex machina, it looks more like a case of Shown Their Work. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the metal that they probably poisoned Korra with. Seriously, from the wiki page on mercury poisoning:

Symptoms typically include sensory impairment (vision, hearing, speech), disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination. The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin, the dose, and the method and duration of exposure.

Some casual reading on wiki of the various things that can result from mercury poisoning also seem to line up relatively well with Korra's symptoms both during and a few weeks after the poisoning.

[United States of Natan]

Just finished watching the finale, haven't read all of the past two pages, but I did skim

Non-spoiler version:
Holy fucking shit that was bloody intense.

In some ways the overall intensity of the book 3 finale possibly rivals and maybe even surpasses ATLA's finale. Certainly the situation seemed a great deal more dire and the fighting much, MUCH more intense. (Did they all but show P'li blowing her own head off? I think they did!) And ye gads, all of the feels at the ending, both the warm fuzzy feels at Jinora getting her mastery tattoos (and OMFG does she look like her grandfather when he was that age with her head shaved!!) and the major depressive downer feels at Korra's current condition.

And guys, the poison being metallic in nature isn't really a deus ex machina, it looks more like a case of Shown Their Work. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the metal that they probably poisoned Korra with. Seriously, from the wiki page on mercury poisoning:

Symptoms typically include sensory impairment (vision, hearing, speech), disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination. The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin, the dose, and the method and duration of exposure.

Some casual reading on wiki of the various things that can result from mercury poisoning also seem to line up relatively well with Korra's symptoms both during and a few weeks after the poisoning.

Yes, that poison definitely had to be mercury, it bore very similar resemblances in both appearance, and effects. I should know, chemistry is my strong suit when it comes to science (technically, all of science is my strong suit, but chemistry especially). I am still trying to decide between chemistry and law when I go to college.

[Laerod]

It's because the tattoo was fresh. Her head had to be shaved completely to finish the tattoo, the hair will grow back.

Seriously, six seasons and I never realized that.

I always figured part of why Tenzin was so reluctant to give Jinorah tats was because he'd have to shave her head for it too.

[Laerod]

Just finished watching the finale, haven't read all of the past two pages, but I did skim

Non-spoiler version:
Holy fucking shit that was bloody intense. :shock:

In some ways the overall intensity of the book 3 finale possibly rivals and maybe even surpasses ATLA's finale. Certainly the situation seemed a great deal more dire and the fighting much, MUCH more intense. (Did they all but show P'li blowing her own head off? I think they did!) And ye gads, all of the feels at the ending, both the warm fuzzy feels at Jinora getting her mastery tattoos (and OMFG does she look like her grandfather when he was that age with her head shaved!!) and the major depressive downer feels at Korra's current condition.

And guys, the poison being metallic in nature isn't really a deus ex machina, it looks more like a case of Shown Their Work. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the metal that they probably poisoned Korra with. Seriously, from the wiki page on mercury poisoning:

Symptoms typically include sensory impairment (vision, hearing, speech), disturbed sensation and a lack of coordination. The type and degree of symptoms exhibited depend upon the individual toxin, the dose, and the method and duration of exposure.

Some casual reading on wiki of the various things that can result from mercury poisoning also seem to line up relatively well with Korra's symptoms both during and a few weeks after the poisoning.

I do find it amusing how a lot of people don't seem to get what qualifies as a deus ex machina and what doesn't. If it's a conflict resolution that doesn't flow from the previous narrative, it's probably a deus ex machina.

People realizing the metallic looking poison was metallic flows from the narrative, as does Bolin figuring out lavabending after geeking out over it. Aang showing up and whisking away an inability to bend is a bit more DEM, as it's resolution by someone that resided outside of the conflict (even though established in the narrative), use of a hitherto unknown ability (if Aang wasn't dead, you might be able to argue that flows from the narrative, but he was), and it basically removed any need for the protagonist to resolve the conflict themselves. It's good that we finally get to see Korra deal with the repurcussions of plot points on a personal level. I hope.

[Reploid Productions]

I do find it amusing how a lot of people don't seem to get what qualifies as a deus ex machina and what doesn't. If it's a conflict resolution that doesn't flow from the previous narrative, it's probably a deus ex machina.

No kidding. And if we wanna be proper with our tropes, the poison wouldn't have been a deus ex machina, it'd be a diabolus ex machina, given it was something sprung from nowhere to screw over the heroes, rather than something outta left field to fix everything. But as you point out, the poison still flows with the narrative (and with a quick flip through wiki becomes extremely believable.)

Also, was anybody else bummed out watching the temple collapse? The scene was a serious bummer, seeing this ancient structure that had been through so damned much over the course of both series, and realizing that there is not going to be any salvaging of it once the lava cools.

[United States of Natan]

I do find it amusing how a lot of people don't seem to get what qualifies as a deus ex machina and what doesn't. If it's a conflict resolution that doesn't flow from the previous narrative, it's probably a deus ex machina.

No kidding. And if we wanna be proper with our tropes, the poison wouldn't have been a deus ex machina, it'd be a diabolus ex machina, given it was something sprung from nowhere to screw over the heroes, rather than something outta left field to fix everything. But as you point out, the poison still flows with the narrative (and with a quick flip through wiki becomes extremely believable.)

Also, was anybody else bummed out watching the temple collapse? The scene was a serious bummer, seeing this ancient structure that had been through so damned much over the course of both series, and realizing that there is not going to be any salvaging of it once the lava cools.

I know. I hope they rebuild it. I was so upset to see the northern air temple be destroyed, and so quickly, and just 70 years after the 100 year war. At least it wasn't the Southern Air Temple, Aang's home. That would have been all the more tragic. speaking of Aang, who else noticed that Jinora looked like Aang when she got her tattoos, and who thought it was awesome?!

[Circus Love]

I do find it amusing how a lot of people don't seem to get what qualifies as a deus ex machina and what doesn't. If it's a conflict resolution that doesn't flow from the previous narrative, it's probably a deus ex machina.

No kidding. And if we wanna be proper with our tropes, the poison wouldn't have been a deus ex machina, it'd be a diabolus ex machina, given it was something sprung from nowhere to screw over the heroes, rather than something outta left field to fix everything. But as you point out, the poison still flows with the narrative (and with a quick flip through wiki becomes extremely believable.)

Also, was anybody else bummed out watching the temple collapse? The scene was a serious bummer, seeing this ancient structure that had been through so damned much over the course of both series, and realizing that there is not going to be any salvaging of it once the lava cools.

It was a shame, but I suppose the new airbenders are more important. Maybe it can be rebuilt? I not sure enough was left of the mountain. Maybe the new Air Nation needs its own temples as well as the old ones.

[Laerod]

I do find it amusing how a lot of people don't seem to get what qualifies as a deus ex machina and what doesn't. If it's a conflict resolution that doesn't flow from the previous narrative, it's probably a deus ex machina.

No kidding. And if we wanna be proper with our tropes, the poison wouldn't have been a deus ex machina, it'd be a diabolus ex machina, given it was something sprung from nowhere to screw over the heroes, rather than something outta left field to fix everything. But as you point out, the poison still flows with the narrative (and with a quick flip through wiki becomes extremely believable.)

Also, was anybody else bummed out watching the temple collapse? The scene was a serious bummer, seeing this ancient structure that had been through so damned much over the course of both series, and realizing that there is not going to be any salvaging of it once the lava cools. :(

I take greater issue with what it reveals about lavabenders. I like how the setting incorporates the consequences of bending (though the benders vs. nonbenders arc fell terribly flat). A world with magic or powers unavailable to our reality will develop differently, so having a person or two that could destroy an entire city on their very own should have a major impact on society, especially if they don't need a centennial comet to pull it off. Though I suppose I'll be just as ambivalent to them not asking the question of how you deal with living nukes as I was with the question of how to deal with all the spirits. Mainly because I don't really like the implications and I prefer the whole thing swept under the rug.

[Reploid Productions]

No kidding. And if we wanna be proper with our tropes, the poison wouldn't have been a deus ex machina, it'd be a diabolus ex machina, given it was something sprung from nowhere to screw over the heroes, rather than something outta left field to fix everything. But as you point out, the poison still flows with the narrative (and with a quick flip through wiki becomes extremely believable.)

Also, was anybody else bummed out watching the temple collapse? The scene was a serious bummer, seeing this ancient structure that had been through so damned much over the course of both series, and realizing that there is not going to be any salvaging of it once the lava cools.

I take greater issue with what it reveals about lavabenders. I like how the setting incorporates the consequences of bending (though the benders vs. nonbenders arc fell terribly flat). A world with magic or powers unavailable to our reality will develop differently, so having a person or two that could destroy an entire city on their very own should have a major impact on society, especially if they don't need a centennial comet to pull it off. Though I suppose I'll be just as ambivalent to them not asking the question of how you deal with living nukes as I was with the question of how to deal with all the spirits. Mainly because I don't really like the implications and I prefer the whole thing swept under the rug.

Well, we have the statistics in-universe that the potential ability to metalbend is roughly 1 out of every 100 earthbenders... I'm going to hazard the guess that the ability to work with lava is a much rarer talent given that in the entire series we have a whopping two instances on non-Avatar benders being able to do it. So we're possibly looking at something like 1 in 100,000, or even higher that have the potential to bend lava, and no promises of that potential ever actually being realized. And with Ghazan either dead or locked back up, that just leaves Bolin. There might not be another earthbender with the potential to learn it in his lifetime, for all we know. I think the talent is going to be just flat-out too rare to be effectively militarized, plus the super-damaging large-scale stuff appears to require a lot of focus, meaning while that lavabender is busy city-destroying, he's extremely vulnerable to attack and unable to defend himself unless he stops what he's doing to fight back.

In a way, it makes a lot of sense to me that Bolin was able to pull it off. I don't think you'd be able to really do it with traditional earthbending forms, in a way liquifying rock and hurling it strikes me as having a similarity to the way waterbenders can freely change the state of the water they're working with. And Bolin has an extremely multicultural background between living in Republic City and competing in the pro-bending where his fighting style HAS to be more fluid and dynamic, likely borrowing bits and pieces from other bending styles. He's not particularly rigid in his way of thinking or doing things; with metalbending it sounds like you have to be more stubborn (ie: rigid) than the metal; I'd bet bending lava requires being able to 'go with the flow,' something that really runs counter to just about literally ALL of earthbending. Plus that probably means it's unlikely to have somebody (besides perhaps the Avatar) who can do both metal and lavabending- the two are essentially complete opposites!

Though... makes you wonder. We now have two different second-tier bending specialties for both earth (metal and lava) and fire (lightning and combustion)... so what other second-tier specialties might there be for water and air? And does this mean there are still other different second-tier possibilities... or, for that matter, third-tier? (I, for one, believe bending platinum IS a third-tier built off metalbending, if only because I want somebody to go all "haha can't bend platinum!" only for Toph to show up and prove them wrong. It would be epic and you know it!)

And geez do I get wall-o-text-y when I'm overthinking shit.

[Laerod]

I take greater issue with what it reveals about lavabenders. I like how the setting incorporates the consequences of bending (though the benders vs. nonbenders arc fell terribly flat). A world with magic or powers unavailable to our reality will develop differently, so having a person or two that could destroy an entire city on their very own should have a major impact on society, especially if they don't need a centennial comet to pull it off. Though I suppose I'll be just as ambivalent to them not asking the question of how you deal with living nukes as I was with the question of how to deal with all the spirits. Mainly because I don't really like the implications and I prefer the whole thing swept under the rug.

Well, we have the statistics in-universe that the potential ability to metalbend is roughly 1 out of every 100 earthbenders... I'm going to hazard the guess that the ability to work with lava is a much rarer talent given that in the entire series we have a whopping two instances on non-Avatar benders being able to do it. So we're possibly looking at something like 1 in 100,000, or even higher that have the potential to bend lava, and no promises of that potential ever actually being realized. And with Ghazan either dead or locked back up, that just leaves Bolin. There might not be another earthbender with the potential to learn it in his lifetime, for all we know. I think the talent is going to be just flat-out too rare to be effectively militarized, plus the super-damaging large-scale stuff appears to require a lot of focus, meaning while that lavabender is busy city-destroying, he's extremely vulnerable to attack and unable to defend himself unless he stops what he's doing to fight back.

In a way, it makes a lot of sense to me that Bolin was able to pull it off. I don't think you'd be able to really do it with traditional earthbending forms, in a way liquifying rock and hurling it strikes me as having a similarity to the way waterbenders can freely change the state of the water they're working with. And Bolin has an extremely multicultural background between living in Republic City and competing in the pro-bending where his fighting style HAS to be more fluid and dynamic, likely borrowing bits and pieces from other bending styles. He's not particularly rigid in his way of thinking or doing things; with metalbending it sounds like you have to be more stubborn (ie: rigid) than the metal; I'd bet bending lava requires being able to 'go with the flow,' something that really runs counter to just about literally ALL of earthbending. Plus that probably means it's unlikely to have somebody (besides perhaps the Avatar) who can do both metal and lavabending- the two are essentially complete opposites!

There's hurdles. It's more of an issue I take with stories that incorporate some form of magic without taking the consequences into account (such as having close formations charge fireball-hurling mages). Being able to melt an entire town (and Ghazan pulled this off with the air temple while fighting) is a major game-changer. If the Earth Queen was still around, she'd definitely be hunting for people like that (we can assume the only reason she didn't go after Ghazan is because she was either not in power or because the White Lotus is that good at keeping their prisons secret). The more unsavory of the world and underworld leaders would probably try to weaponize it, or at the very least find a way to avoid others from doing so.
Regarding why Bolin could do it, I've been rather curious as to how the genetics of bending work and if the series is going to deal with that. For one, bending populations were rather homogenous until the founding of the Fire Nation colonies, so mixed marriages open up new and interesting ways to shape it. I'd love it if lavabending was a combination of fire- and earthbending, which Bolin is a perfect candidate for.

Though... makes you wonder. We now have two different second-tier bending specialties for both earth (metal and lava) and fire (lightning and combustion)... so what other second-tier specialties might there be for water and air? And does this mean there are still other different second-tier possibilities... or, for that matter, third-tier? (I, for one, believe bending platinum IS a third-tier built off metalbending, if only because I want somebody to go all "haha can't bend platinum!" only for Toph to show up and prove them wrong. It would be epic and you know it!)

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

And geez do I get wall-o-text-y when I'm overthinking shit.

No need to apologize =P

[Reploid Productions]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

Oh good lord, that would make so many shippers' heads explode. That kind of explosion could rip the fandom to pieces!

[United States of Natan]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

Oh good lord, that would make so many shippers' heads explode. That kind of explosion could rip the fandom to pieces!

yes, better not to let a bomb like that go off.

[Laerod]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

Oh good lord, that would make so many shippers' heads explode. That kind of explosion could rip the fandom to pieces! :rofl:

The alternative would be to have Toph make a blind joke about not having seen their faces. Also worth it.

[Jaslandia]

Regarding why Bolin could do it, I've been rather curious as to how the genetics of bending work and if the series is going to deal with that. For one, bending populations were rather homogenous until the founding of the Fire Nation colonies, so mixed marriages open up new and interesting ways to shape it. I'd love it if lavabending was a combination of fire- and earthbending, which Bolin is a perfect candidate for.

For one thing, we do know that bending isn't entirely genetic. We know that all Air Nomads were Air Benders due to the Air Nomads' spirituality.

As to the genetics of bending, it seems like an all-or-nothing proposition from what I've seen. Either you have a one certain bending, or you have none at all. I'm a bit skeptical that lavabending is a result of fire- and earthbending genes. My guess is that lavabending is a random mutation of the earthbending gene.

[Reploid Productions]

Regarding why Bolin could do it, I've been rather curious as to how the genetics of bending work and if the series is going to deal with that. For one, bending populations were rather homogenous until the founding of the Fire Nation colonies, so mixed marriages open up new and interesting ways to shape it. I'd love it if lavabending was a combination of fire- and earthbending, which Bolin is a perfect candidate for.

For one thing, we do know that bending isn't entirely genetic. We know that all Air Nomads were Air Benders due to the Air Nomads' spirituality.

As to the genetics of bending, it seems like an all-or-nothing proposition from what I've seen. Either you have a one certain bending, or you have none at all. I'm a bit skeptical that lavabending is a result of fire- and earthbending genes. My guess is that lavabending is a random mutation of the earthbending gene.

Seems there's a physical (possibly genetic) component AND a spiritual component to being able to bend from the information available across both series. I could swear I read on TVTropes somewhere that Word of God is that Sokka also had the potential to become a waterbender, but never bothered to try and never realized that potential. (But goddamn if I can find where I ran across that on Tropes! >_< )

Which could potentially provide a separate explanation for why historically all the Air Nomads were benders, AND why the new crop of post-Convergence airbenders are scattered all over the place. Aside from having a higher percentage of benders due to spirituality, if the Air Nomads sent any non-benders that might have been born to the group away, that could have bred the non-benders out of the culture and scattered the potential genetic component from those non-benders born of airbenders all over the place, with the energy from Harmonic Convergence perhaps activating that latent potential. Of course, we have no canon evidence to support the Air Nomads ever actually kicking non-airbenders out of their community (or that such even existed to be kicked out in the first place,) but we also have roughly some 10,000 years of history unaccounted for that we can play with!

[Shemiki]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

And unbeknownst to both Toph and Zuko, she's the mother of the current Fire Lord instead of Mai.

[United States of Natan]

For one thing, we do know that bending isn't entirely genetic. We know that all Air Nomads were Air Benders due to the Air Nomads' spirituality.

As to the genetics of bending, it seems like an all-or-nothing proposition from what I've seen. Either you have a one certain bending, or you have none at all. I'm a bit skeptical that lavabending is a result of fire- and earthbending genes. My guess is that lavabending is a random mutation of the earthbending gene.

Seems there's a physical (possibly genetic) component AND a spiritual component to being able to bend from the information available across both series. I could swear I read on TVTropes somewhere that Word of God is that Sokka also had the potential to become a waterbender, but never bothered to try and never realized that potential. (But goddamn if I can find where I ran across that on Tropes! >_< )

Which could potentially provide a separate explanation for why historically all the Air Nomads were benders, AND why the new crop of post-Convergence airbenders are scattered all over the place. Aside from having a higher percentage of benders due to spirituality, if the Air Nomads sent any non-benders that might have been born to the group away, that could have bred the non-benders out of the culture and scattered the potential genetic component from those non-benders born of airbenders all over the place, with the energy from Harmonic Convergence perhaps activating that latent potential. Of course, we have no canon evidence to support the Air Nomads ever actually kicking non-airbenders out of their community (or that such even existed to be kicked out in the first place,) but we also have roughly some 10,000 years of history unaccounted for that we can play with!

I think a better theory would have been that airbenders that escaped the genocide bred, but perhaps they were all nonbenders... but its more plausible that harmonic convergence simply fixed everything.

[Laerod]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

And unbeknownst to both Toph and Zuko, she's the mother of the current Fire Lord instead of Mai.

Toph may be blind, but that's probably an implausibly big plot point to sneak past her.

[Ameriganastan]

So, what was the deal with that random Metalbender chick? They seemed pretty focused on her for a tick, but nothing came of it.

[Licana]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

You could say she got her "life changing adventure" eh?

Yeah, I'll show myself out.

[The Alma Mater]

So, what was the deal with that random Metalbender chick? They seemed pretty focused on her for a tick, but nothing came of it.

Korra will probably have to call her stephmother in the next season.

[Laerod]

Bah! What needs to happen is for Toph to show up and reveal that Sokka and Zuko are Suyin and Lin's fathers. THAT would be some serious epicity =D

You could say she got her "life changing adventure" eh?

Yeah, I'll show myself out.

Field trip, surely.

[Licana]

Yeah, it's been about two-three years since I last saw that episode.