The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra thread II: The Revenge

[Charellia]

The Dark Avatar was a predictable and lazily written villain. He would have been decent if any effort at all had gone into his character but instead all we got was a union of two cliched, one dimensional characters to create one rather pointless villain.

Arguably, the same could be said about the Avatar, a union of two heroes...

Certainly. If that was how we were first introduced to the Avatar I might even have been the one to say it. But the origin of the Avatar was only explained after we had already seen two incarnations of the cycle, both well developed, interesting characters. Additionally, since the Avatar has already been well established when the Dark Avatar is introduced it doesn't come across as an original or creative villain.

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

Zaheer as a Dark Avatar would have been amazing, though.

[Jaslandia]

Zaheer as a Dark Avatar would have been amazing, though.

A bit hypocritical, though, since Zaheer was opposed to the entire idea of an Avatar.

[New haven america]

Don't listen to Ameri. Book 2 may be weaker then the rest, but it's still worth watching.

How is Book 2 weaker than Book 1?

Crappy forgettable villain, Korra's unbearable personality, her losing the 10,000 year connection with the past Avatars, and a pretty big part of the story had no idea where it was going.

Only good parts of the season were: Iroh, Bolin's adventures with Varrik & Eska, Varrik himself, & Wan.

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

Zaheer as a Dark Avatar would have been amazing, though.

A bit hypocritical, though, since Zaheer was opposed to the entire idea of an Avatar.

A Dark Avatar is the opposite of an Avatar. They would be all about chaos and government toppling and shit, just like the Red Lotus.

[The United Neptumousian Empire]

Loss of connection to the past Avatars was a terrible choice. Should not have happened.

[Laerod]

Loss of connection to the past Avatars was a terrible choice. Should not have happened.

Much as I hated that it happened, I'm going to argue in favor of it. It was too powerful a device to allow for decent threats to Korra, especially given the ending of Book 1. Almost all problems she faced would have had people asking themselves "Why doesn't she just call Aang/Ruko/Kyoshi?" In the first show, Aang had to struggle to make the connection, and when he did he had to deal with the advice not solving his main dilemma. Korra had that connection from the beginning and it placed shackles on how writers could have her plausibly deal with conflicts.

[Ameriganastan]

How is Book 2 weaker than Book 1?

Crappy forgettable villain, Korra's unbearable personality, her losing the 10,000 year connection with the past Avatars, and a pretty big part of the story had no idea where it was going.

Only good parts of the season were: Iroh, Bolin's adventures with Varrik & Eska, Varrik himself, & Wan.

What he said.

[Jaslandia]

A bit hypocritical, though, since Zaheer was opposed to the entire idea of an Avatar.

A Dark Avatar is the opposite of an Avatar. They would be all about chaos and government toppling and shit, just like the Red Lotus.

Still, the Dark Avatar would be the same general concept as the Avatar, except dark; the Dark Avatar would be another all-powerful master. Considering Zaheer's hatred of all earthly authority, I imagine he would feel the same way about spiritual authority, whether it's in the form of the Avatar or the Dark Avatar.

Plus, during his conversation with Korra, Zaheer talked about how Unalaq was part of the Red Lotus, but that the whole Dark Avatar stuff was not part of the plan. That seems like a fairly good indication that Zaheer did not like the Dark Avatar idea.

[New haven america]

Loss of connection to the past Avatars was a terrible choice. Should not have happened.

Much as I hated that it happened, I'm going to argue in favor of it. It was too powerful a device to allow for decent threats to Korra, especially given the ending of Book 1. Almost all problems she faced would have had people asking themselves "Why doesn't she just call Aang/Ruko/Kyoshi?" In the first show, Aang had to struggle to make the connection, and when he did he had to deal with the advice not solving his main dilemma. Korra had that connection from the beginning and it placed shackles on how writers could have her plausibly deal with conflicts.

No, she got the connection 1/4 through the series, even then she sucked at using it(And Aang was able to use the Avatar State while being physically and mentally younger than Korra).

There was no reason to get rid of it.

[Forsher]

Much as I hated that it happened, I'm going to argue in favor of it. It was too powerful a device to allow for decent threats to Korra, especially given the ending of Book 1. Almost all problems she faced would have had people asking themselves "Why doesn't she just call Aang/Ruko/Kyoshi?" In the first show, Aang had to struggle to make the connection, and when he did he had to deal with the advice not solving his main dilemma. Korra had that connection from the beginning and it placed shackles on how writers could have her plausibly deal with conflicts.

No, she got the connection 1/4 through the series, even then she sucked at using it(And Aang was able to use the Avatar State while being physically and mentally younger than Korra).

There was no reason to get rid of it.

Are you serious? It was, thematically, inevitable. Every book basically ran with a "You're no longer needed" or "The Avatar is obsolete" message. In terms of developing that the writers a) remove something that makes the Avatar unique and b) create a strong sense of loss on Korra's part, which sows the seeds of doubt. You also get the issue that continually turning to the advice of Aang would hamper the ability of the writers to allow Korra's own character develop... you didn't have that with Aang in ATLA because of what Laerod said but also because each use built up Roku's personality as well.

Furthermore, the older mentor role was already taken in Korra's case so the niche was already occupied.

[New haven america]

No, she got the connection 1/4 through the series, even then she sucked at using it(And Aang was able to use the Avatar State while being physically and mentally younger than Korra).

There was no reason to get rid of it.

1.Are you serious? It was, thematically, inevitable. 2.Every book basically ran with a "You're no longer needed" or "The Avatar is obsolete" message. In terms of developing that the writers a) remove something that makes the Avatar unique and b) create a strong sense of loss on Korra's part, which sows the seeds of doubt. 3.You also get the issue that continually turning to the advice of Aang would hamper the ability of the writers to allow Korra's own character develop... you didn't have that with Aang in ATLA because of what Laerod said but also because each use built up Roku's personality as well.

Furthermore, the older mentor role was already taken in Korra's case so the niche was already occupied.

1. Yep
2. Then they also would have needed to get rid of the Avatar State, but that didn't happen, so she's still unique. Plus they could have done well with the "You're not needed" problem while having the connections still intact
3. But she almost never did, even when she had the connections I can only think of one, maybe two times she asked for help for Aang

[Ameriganastan]

Anyone want a new poll? I'm sure I can think of something.

[Charellia]

Anyone want a new poll? I'm sure I can think of something.

Sure. Best villain would be good if you're taking suggestions.

[Ameriganastan]

Anyone want a new poll? I'm sure I can think of something.

Sure. Best villain would be good if you're taking suggestions.

Works for me.

[New Sivonia]

In my opinion, and I know a lot of people disagree, Avatar ended with Book 3 of TLA. I didn't get into Korra, and although I sorta liked Book 3, I didn't like Book 4, and I didn't like the ending (not because of Korra and Asami, although I don't think that they introduced that well). And I know Bryan said that Kuvira was his favorite villain, but Azula's always number one to me.

[Wisconsin9]

In my opinion, and I know a lot of people disagree, Avatar ended with Book 3 of TLA. I didn't get into Korra, and although I sorta liked Book 3, I didn't like Book 4, and I didn't like the ending (not because of Korra and Asami, although I don't think that they introduced that well). And I know Bryan said that Kuvira was his favorite villain, but Azula's always number one to me.

It's almost a pity that Korra had to follow TLA, because, honestly, those are some pretty damn big shoes to fill.

[Ameriganastan]

In my opinion, and I know a lot of people disagree, Avatar ended with Book 3 of TLA. I didn't get into Korra, and although I sorta liked Book 3, I didn't like Book 4, and I didn't like the ending (not because of Korra and Asami, although I don't think that they introduced that well). And I know Bryan said that Kuvira was his favorite villain, but Azula's always number one to me.

...Wait, it ended with Aang being dead?

[Ameriganastan]

New poll! Do tell me if I forgot anyone.

[Ameriganastan]

And before you ask, Ty-Lee, Mai and the like aren't here cause that's a poll for another day. Maybe a "Best Henchman" poll.

[Imperial Nalydya]

Why is Ghazan not on the list?

[Laerod]

Much as I hated that it happened, I'm going to argue in favor of it. It was too powerful a device to allow for decent threats to Korra, especially given the ending of Book 1. Almost all problems she faced would have had people asking themselves "Why doesn't she just call Aang/Ruko/Kyoshi?" In the first show, Aang had to struggle to make the connection, and when he did he had to deal with the advice not solving his main dilemma. Korra had that connection from the beginning and it placed shackles on how writers could have her plausibly deal with conflicts.

No, she got the connection 1/4 through the series, even then she sucked at using it(And Aang was able to use the Avatar State while being physically and mentally younger than Korra).

There was no reason to get rid of it.

False. Aang managed to restore her bending through the connection. That created the problem of Aang being able to intervene in the future. It was overpowered given the Book 1 finale.

[New haven america]

No, she got the connection 1/4 through the series, even then she sucked at using it(And Aang was able to use the Avatar State while being physically and mentally younger than Korra).

There was no reason to get rid of it.

False. Aang managed to restore her bending through the connection. That created the problem of Aang being able to intervene in the future. It was overpowered given the Book 1 finale.

I know, she wasn't able to connect until 1/4 through the series(Season 1's finale).
Also A) She almost never used her fully powered Avatar state in S2 when she had the connection, and B) when she was in trouble in S2, I don't think a certain Avatar helped her in S2.

They could have done just fine with the "You're not needed" conflict if they kept the connection.

[New Sivonia]

In my opinion, and I know a lot of people disagree, Avatar ended with Book 3 of TLA. I didn't get into Korra, and although I sorta liked Book 3, I didn't like Book 4, and I didn't like the ending (not because of Korra and Asami, although I don't think that they introduced that well). And I know Bryan said that Kuvira was his favorite villain, but Azula's always number one to me.

...Wait, it ended with Aang being dead?

No, like I don't consider Korra a part of the Avatar TV series.

[Ameriganastan]

Why is Ghazan not on the list?

And before you ask, Ty-Lee, Mai and the like aren't here cause that's a poll for another day. Maybe a "Best Henchman" poll.

Seriously, ONE POST ABOVE.