Legend of Korra season finale

[mmmikey]

The only good that came from this season is Varrick. He proved to be entertaining and more of a fleshed out villain than Unalaq or Vaatu. The only promising thing is that it looks like at least the creative team has realized this and is setting up future shenanigans with him.

I honestly think that Vaatu and Raava were too cliche & forced into the plot. There was never any mention of either of them in ATLA or the first season of LOK. Seeing as how it serves as the bedrock of the entire Avatar series (including ALTA) there should have been more hints dropped before, the show's creators should've had it planned in ATLA, or nixed the introduction of Raava & Vaatu. That origin story retconned the series' previous connections to specific animals being studied for bending. The Lion-turtles could've been incorporated without messing up the established story somehow, but I just feel like the backstory they went with just muddled everything up.

I've also noticed in LOK they seem to have gotten lazy and all the forms behind bending look the same to me now. In ATLA each nation and bending technique looked distinct. For the show to just abandon that is like throwing out support columns in a building. I understand that there's "progression" in the fighting styles from the probending material in season one, but I was under the impression that without certain motions bending just didn't happen.

This season has definitely been a setback in character development. Bei Fong being the worst casualty. One of the strongest characters of the first season was reduced to a buffoon. Her distrust of Mako, for no good reason, who she fought alongside with against Amon and completely ignoring him just made no sense. Then there is the undermining of Aang's legacy as a father. While that portion of his life is fair game, it's just too far a stretch to imagine him being so unfair and biased to his children. I for one didn't care for Tenzin or his sibling rivalries. Then having Bolin be a total dick and ditch his brother in jail and refuse to believe him, with the added bonus of giving the clear douche bag the spoils of victory that by all rights should've been Mako's. Asami remains a passive force in the story.

And the entirety of the spirit world was just ambiguous, not just Jinora's disappearance/reappearance/saving, in a bad way. The girl who couldn't find the spirit portals or the avatar in the spirit world suddenly can make contact with Raava and materialize where she's needed. And I still don't entirely understand what the hell happened in the last 2 episodes even looking back on it and thinking about it. Things only raise more questions to me.

This season was just rife with plotholes and awful plotlines. The first season was a philosophical challenge while also providing a good and "evil" face off. This season had just the most simplistic hackneyed concepts of good and evil, which is everything the series has avoided to this point. I also think they pulled back from the heavier themes they started with in LOK. To me it's like the show sold off its soul.

I don't mind the loss of connection to the old avatars. It sets Korra on a completely different journey, which could only be compared to Wan (who strangely doesn't have a legend). She has no previous incarnations to receive guidance or wisdom from. At least for the time being. While it seems like a poor choice for the canon of the series, it serves as a greater character development point for Korra. There still remains the possibility of reconnecting with the previous Avatars.

I think they have themselves at a point they can recover from the damage they did to story this season, but I remain skeptical. I'll wait til the next season to really decide if I'll invest further in this series.

 

[klaynexas3]

I liked the finale, though I will admit it was very deus ex-ish and it seemed kind of hurried to me.

Hurried, yes. Deus Ex Machina like, no. I've seen this used FAR too much in this thread. To be a DEM you have to have NOT established at any point in the plot ANY elements to say that it's possible to do x. It was established that Jinora was very much in tune with the spirits, much like Unalaq. It had been stated that neither the Light nor Dark spirit could truly be destroyed. It had been shown that when the protals are open spirits can move freely between worlds. So, Jinora coming to rejoin Korra and Rava is not a Deus Ex Machina.

What would have been a DEM is if they had said that Korra regained her connection to her past lives.

No, Jinora being in tune with the spiritual world does not automatically mean she has the power of teleportation and making pretty lights that somehow manage to free Korra. Her being able to detect Rava within Vattu was not the DEM moment, her somehow managing to do everything else that she accomplished in those few minutes, however, was.

OT:

Spoiler

Okay, my main problems are these. Korra turning her spirit into a behemoth that was able to interact with the physical world. Maybe it was due to harmonic convergence, maybe that's just her ability to bend the energy within herself, I don't know, but I'd like to know, so Nick, or anyone else that might have an explanation, please help me out here. Also, can all entities bend the energy within themselves? Because it seemed more like it was only lion turtles that possessed this ability for quite some time, except when given to the Avatar, but Korra was not the Avatar at that moment, so she couldn't have had this innate ability, unless all people have it. And if that were the case, then shit's about to hit the fan because I'm going to rant about how this means all people should be capable of not only bending, but also bending all four elements. I want answers people, and ones that actually fit, or I'm going to be seriously pissed about how majorly LoK has fucked the lore in the ass. Wan's episode was fine and dandy, and its moments that could be considered retcon could be explained in a manner that doesn't retcon a thing. However, this episode introduces quite a few many things which I don't see how they can be fully explained, so will someone either explain this to me, so I can shut up and stop raging, or will Nick explain this to all of us. Hell, even if they retcon some shit, I'd prefer it to being completely left in the dark.

All in all though, despite my fanboy rage, I really did like the episode.

EDIT: Oh, also, I did not like how Unaloq turned out to be just such a one note villain. I had my hopes that he had plans to do something truly amazing and that he really did have the intentions of all the worlds at heart, but no. He was no more deep than the Unaloq shown in the Nuptuck movers. That kind of pissed me off, especially with what the series had shown of what they were capable of doing. This season wasn't for any major story telling, it was for some slight world building and spectacle, that's all, which is really saddening, because I want more than just pretty colors and some cool fight scenes. I don't know, the season was alright, maybe a 7/10, but even so, it could have been much more.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

HAAAAAAAATEEEEEED IT! Seriously, you have to try hard to fuck up THAT bad. I mean, GOD!
Ok, first of all, just like after the 1st season, characters didn't change! Like, at all! Mako is still a douche, Korra is still hotheaded idiot, Bolin is still... well, Bolin! And Asami... sigh, it would've been better if she just wasn't in season 2 at all. She was one of the best characters in season 1, but she didn't develop at all! She's still naive, but kind, and completely oblivious to the fact that Mako is a fucking douche! I mean, hell, she wasn't even in a final battle!
Now, to the final battle. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I thought that was Avatar, not a Dragon Ball Z! Why did Unalaq transform into this fucking giant red monstrosity?! How the hell did Vaatu learn new skills while being imprisoned?! And Raava, did he destroy her or just consumed her?! Because they've shown that she was destroyed, but then somehow she was extracted from Vaatu! Yeah, I know that the point is that sooner or later, if one of spirits dies, he will reemerge. But they said it's supposed to take thousands of years! OH YEAH! HOW THE FUCK DID ESKA AND DESNA TELEPORTED FROM SOUTH POLE TO NORTH?! They were clearly on a South Pole when Team Avatar entered the portal, but then they appeared in a spirit forest located near the North Pole Portal! HOW?! Mako and Bolin were near that portal the entire time so they would've fucking seen them appearing it!
Oh god... and Bumi... so, he is a non-bender son of Aang, who, despite that, managed to become one of the greatest generals in the world. So, we kinda assumed that he is a badass, right? Nope. He's just a mumbling lunatic with incredible amount of luck.
Sigh... well, at least ending was really ambitious.

 

[bug_of_war]

No, Jinora being in tune with the spiritual world does not automatically mean she has the power of teleportation and making pretty lights that somehow manage to free Korra. Her being able to detect Rava within Vattu was not the DEM moment, her somehow managing to do everything else that she accomplished in those few minutes, however, was.

Jinora was a spirit in the Spirit World, thus she is not bound by physical limitations. The northern and southern lights were explained to be gaps into the spirit world (or something along those lines). Also, Jinora had help from other spirits, so her being able to dissipate is possible and was (Not for the character herself, but in the end she could so) possible before the finale. Please do list any other DEM moments and we'll see if you're right, but just like the word entitled, Deus Ex Machina is quickly becoming the Escapists most favourite misused word.

 

[schrodinger]

HAAAAAAAATEEEEEED IT! Seriously, you have to try hard to fuck up THAT bad. I mean, GOD!
Ok, first of all, just like after the 1st season, characters didn't change! Like, at all! Mako is still a douche, Korra is still hotheaded idiot, Bolin is still... well, Bolin! And Asami... sigh, it would've been better if she just wasn't in season 2 at all. She was one of the best characters in season 1, but she didn't develop at all! She's still naive, but kind, and completely oblivious to the fact that Mako is a fucking douche! I mean, hell, she wasn't even in a final battle!
Now, to the final battle. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I thought that was Avatar, not a Dragon Ball Z! Why did Unalaq transform into this fucking giant red monstrosity?! How the hell did Vaatu learn new skills while being imprisoned?! And Raava, did he destroy her or just consumed her?! Because they've shown that she was destroyed, but then somehow she was extracted from Vaatu! Yeah, I know that the point is that sooner or later, if one of spirits dies, he will reemerge. But they said it's supposed to take thousands of years! OH YEAH! HOW THE FUCK DID ESKA AND DESNA TELEPORTED FROM SOUTH POLE TO NORTH?! They were clearly on a South Pole when Team Avatar entered the portal, but then they appeared in a spirit forest located near the North Pole Portal! HOW?! Mako and Bolin were near that portal the entire time so they would've fucking seen them appearing it!
Oh god... and Bumi... so, he is a non-bender son of Aang, who, despite that, managed to become one of the greatest generals in the world. So, we kinda assumed that he is a badass, right? Nope. He's just a mumbling lunatic with incredible amount of luck.
Sigh... well, at least ending was really ambitious.

DBZ? It felt more like Attack on Titan; the music even fits!

EDIT: Damn artist are fast

Spoiler

I believe the show explains since Light and Dark can never be completely destroyed, the defeated side will merely regrow within the winner for 10,000 years. I'm guessing Jesus Jinora sped up the process, somehow. So, now that vaatu has 'died' will he show up in the avatar in 10,000 years? oooh, sucks to be that person.

OH! I just remembered; If the show is indeed implying the old avatars are gone and Korra is considered the new cycle, i feel REALLY bad for the next avatar trying to seek any kind of wisdom from her.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm on the fence with the ending just like I was with the rest of the season.

Varik is fucking awesome, and definitely the best addition to the cast. Asmai didn't get to do anything the entire season, which sucks, because she still kind of stole the show in each scene she was in (well, her and Varik). The ending leaves interesting potential for the next season, what with the spirit world and the real world now connected again.

Other than that a LOT of things sucked. I thought the entire giant fight between Unalok/Vatu and Korra was incredibly stupid and rather anti-climactic, and was way less interesting than the fight they were having in the spirit world. Also, I still have no idea what the point of Jinora was in the spirit world. She didn't do anything, she didn't guide Korra, all that happened was she got kidnapped and lost, and then resurrected Rava with no explanation.

I also felt like Iroh had no business being there. He just wasn't used to his full potential, so him being there just felt like lazy fan-service, which is the worst kind of fan-service. Either do Iroh justice or don't put him in.

At this point I'm not so much looking forward to the next season as I am curious about how they're going to ruin all the potentially interesting plot-lines they've created. Mostly I just want more Varik though.

 

[Ieyke]

That wasn't a Deus Ex Machina ending.
It was a double Chekov's Gun ending.

It was pre-established that on their own accord Vaatu and Raava were unkillable. As long as one lived, the other would live.
It was also pre-established that an Avatar dying in the Avatar state would die permanently.

That made it completely logical that Raava would survive after being destroyed outside Korra's body, and it provided the solution to killing Vaatu permanently while he inhabited Unalaq.

I saw that ending coming from MILES away. You can't predict a Deus Ex Machina since they by definition come out of nowhere.

 

[Drizzitdude]

-I found the final fight kind of lame, I mean the entire show is about benders being awesome and doing epic martial arts while shooting elements at people, and the final fight was more of a wrestling match. Anyway the one thing the really bothered me was the whole "severing the link to the past lives" thing. I mean watching every punch sever the tie to an avatar felt excruciating to watch and I actually wish there was some kind of lame plot device that had restored it. It marks a final definitive blow to the avatar series as a whole and destroys an essential plot device to explain newly added features to the world using them. I feel that if this stays the way it is the writers may end up writing themselves into a corner they need to deus ex themselves out of.

-Also if the tree is a a spiritual place that can be used to access ones memories, could the avatar theoretically use it to recall Raava's memories of being bonded to previous avatar's?

-Asami got completely screwed, again. Can they please just make her and Bolin a thing?

-I really hope it turns out that all of Bumi's stories are completely true.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

I wonder if DiMartino and the other writers meant to make Mako just... the worst kind of person?

They couldn't possibly think he's a good, likeable protagonist, could they?

The only time's he's been right have smacked of designated-good-guy status, even though he's done nothing to earn it, constantly screwing over the two genuinely admirable characters in Bolin and Asami.

Varrick is still awesome, and is the best part of Season 2. "Do the thing!" indeed.

 

[DaWaffledude]

That wasn't a Deus Ex Machina ending.
It was a double Chekov's Gun ending.

It was pre-established that on their own accord Vaatu and Raava were unkillable. As long as one lived, the other would live.
It was also pre-established that an Avatar dying in the Avatar state would die permanently.

That made it completely logical that Raava would survive after being destroyed outside Korra's body, and it provided the solution to killing Vaatu permanently while he inhabited Unalaq.

I saw that ending coming from MILES away. You can't predict a Deus Ex Machina since they by definition come out of nowhere.

Spoiler

The Deus Ex Machina was Jinora showing up and doing...Whatever the hell it was she did to make Raava suddenly appear even though a couple of seconds ago she wasn't there.

 

[Britpoint]

I quite liked it on the whole. I was wondering how they were going to make book 3 interesting without just scaling it up Dragonball Z style, and the way they left it opens up a lot of opportunities.

Spoiler

I am also glad Makorra ended, they really didn't have much chemistry and it very much felt shoehorned into season 1 just to have the standard protagonist love interest. Then they got commissioned for three more books and had to get rid of it again. The way they split up was pretty dumb though.

"I'll always love you."
"I'll always love you too."
"Let's break up forever."
"Okie dokie."

Glad that Jinora saved the day - in many ways she is my favourite character. And although the Kaiju Korra fight scene was a bit dumb, it reminded me of fish spirit Aang so I wasn't too bothered by it. It was gutsy to kill off the connection to the previous Avatars - I think this was also symbolic for the direction of the show. Korra has been living in Aang's shadow in both Books 1 and 2, and now she doesn't have that safety net to fall back on. No more "What would Aang do?" Although because she merged with Raava again, the Avatar cycle should be able to continue. Korra is the first Avatar of the new cycle.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

As a quick warning, I am not going to spoiler mark any of the following. If you haven't seen the Finale (or for that matter any of Season 2), skip my post and read someone else's.

The Good

• The best new character hands down we got was Varrick. If tropes had Avatars of their own, Varrick would be a good contender for Crazy Awesome.
• We got to learn a bit about the Spirit World and how it works. I think the "Beginnings" two parter may actually be my favourite episode of this season as a result.
• I felt they handed the relationship stuff a lot better this Season.
• Tenzin's kids were downplayed for most of the Season, thank Raava.
• What we saw of the Nuk Tuk serials.
• The old Avatars being erased, or at least I can understand why this is, what with Raava being destroyed and recreated again (so assuming Raava held the knowledge and lives of all the past Avatars, said knowledge would be lost when that version "died"). I do think it's too early to tell if it's good for the franchise in the long run, however.
• I was expecting (from what I read breifly before seeing it) an even worse cop-out, like Time Travel or something. Giant Blue Energy-Spirit Korra? Eh, I can work with that. It's not as big a cop-out as I thought, so points there.

The Bad

• Vaatu and Unaloq were not good villians, and a real step downwards from Amon. If I had to pick between the two though, I would say that Vaatu was the worse of the two - the only thing I could say I liked about Vaatu was that he was not a Human villain. Otherwise, he's a Generic Super Evil Spirit deity, which (again) compared with Amon made him a much less interesting villain. Unaloq strikes me more as wasted potential - he came off to me as being undercooked. Come to think of it, his Nuk Tuk characterization was more on the money than the writers realised I feel...
• Again, Korra as a show displays while it's good at building things up, the pay off isn't great. Or to put it another way, Darkness Falls is a better episode than Light in the Dark
• Coming back to the Vaatu points above, now that Korra's beaten up the Universe's equivalent of Unicron or the Anti-Monitor, what's she going to fight next?
• People being right about the whole "Dark Avatar" thing. I actually hoped that Vaatu would double cross Unaloq and kill him off (hey, they've done onscreen death in this show before now), but this really...ugh, that predictable, huh.
• Varrick again. He pretty much stole the show this season, down to having the more interesting plot and being the more interesting villain. When the side villain proves to be more interesting than the main attraction, something is wrong.
• Jinorra as Deus Ex Machina. Remember where I said the Giant Blue Korra wasn't that big of a Cop Out and gave it bonus points for it? Well this is the point where it loses them.
• Bringing Iroh back from the dead. I felt this character should have stayed dead due to the original voice actor expiring. It doesn't help that in his first appearance, it sounds like the voice actor they got is doing a really awful Mako impersonation.

Overall: A rather weak season, though I did note some improvements I've not mentioned here. I'm still going to watch Books 3 & 4, but we've got a long road of improvement ahead of us.

5/10

 

[Britpoint]

[*] Bringing Iroh back from the dead. I felt this character should have stayed dead due to the original voice actor expiring. It doesn't help that in his first appearance, it sounds like the voice actor they got is doing a really awful Mako impersonation.
[/list]

Overall: A rather weak season, though I did note some improvements I've not mentioned here. I'm still going to watch Books 3 & 4, but we've got a long road of improvement ahead of us.

5/10

Two points here. Firstly, the guy playing Uncle Iroh was Greg Baldwin, the same guy who played him in TLA Book 3, as the original actor died after TLA Book 2. So although it wasn't the original VA, it was the same actor who was playing him at the end of Aang's story.

Secondly... Iroh never died. Zuko became fire lord and Iroh went back to his tea shop. Sure, until we saw him in the spirit world you would *assume* that he died from old age but his death was never actually established, so it certainly isn't 'bringing him back'.

Important trivia note: While I was double checking my facts on this rebuttle I also discovered that Princess Azula was the voice of spirit mushroom.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

Two points here. Firstly, the guy playing Uncle Iroh was Greg Baldwin, the same guy who played him in TLA Book 3, as the original actor died after TLA Book 2. So although it wasn't the original VA, it was the same actor who was playing him at the end of Aang's story.

Secondly... Iroh never died. Zuko became fire lord and Iroh went back to his tea shop. Sure, until we saw him in the spirit world you would *assume* that he died from old age but his death was never actually established, so it certainly isn't 'bringing him back'.

Important trivia note: While I was double checking my facts on this rebuttle I also discovered that Princess Azula was the voice of spirit mushroom.

Point A) It was? Huh, I guess he was rusty or something. There's a side comparison I can look at, right? Because I don't remeber the replacement VA being so bad.

Point B) Also true, but I don't recall he said how exactly he got there. With the Portals closed at the time, the only way that stands to reason he could have gotten there is by intensive meditation or some other similar method that involves the spirit leaving the body. In either event, his natural body by this point has withered away to the point where a return to the physical world seems highly unlikely (unless the Spirit Portals would allow him to walk between both worlds freely), making him for all intents and purposes dead in the physical world...but I will concede that it's a Schrodinger's Cat scenario.

In both cases though, I feel they really should have just left the character alone.

Side Note - So THAT'S what happened to Azula's spirit! X3

 

[KazeAizen]

Ok fellow escapees the season finale aired at 12:00 a.m. ET, and i think it's time to discuss what happened.

Ye be warned, there will be massive spoilers ahead so read at your own risk!

First of, WRITERS, stop making Lin an idiot. She had a developed character in season 1 and she's been getting worse this season. Episode 11 made it worse; she almost allowed the president of republic city to be kidnapped! They better not regulate her back into a useless background character for next season.

Ok, on to the actual episodes:

Spoiler

AANG AND THE OTHER AVATARS ARE GONE?! DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?!
Now, they did say she didn't have a connection to the other avatars anymore, but it sounded like all the avatars are now gone. After you go introducing Wan, you do this show creators; how cruel.

Watching UnaVaatu killing Raava and all the avatars was depressing to see.

Nice job to all who predicted Unalaq would be an anti-avatar/dark avatar. Since Vaatu and Unalaq did merge and were 'killed in the avatar state' does this mean they're permanently gone or temporarily gone?

The final fight was Giant UnaVaatu vs Giant spirit Korra; not as awesome as the fight between Ozai and Aang, but decent overall. The creators do love their deus ex endings, with Jinora miraculously appearing and reviving? Raava. Overall, not a bad way to end season.

This season would of benefited from the sense of urgency the last couple episodes had, with spirits running rampart and potentially causing great harm like 10,000 years ago.
The next season needs to cut out the filler BS and concentrate on the story. They only have a limited number of episodes and need the limited time to make sure the story is told coherently and paced well.

In summary:

Jinora is now jesus.

Varrick is still awesome, and flies off into the sunset to become Batman, probably.

The flailing romance of mako and korra is officially over! Also, Bolin x Eska is now canon.

Asami gets her heartbroken AGAIN.

The human and the spirit worlds are now connected again.

"Maybe Avatar Wan was wrong" Fuck you Korra

The previous avatars might be gone forever


Oh and apparently General Zhao(the one who killed the moon spirit in season 1 of ATLA) appeared in the final episode, but i didn't see him. If someone did spot him, kindly please point him out.

I rate this season a 7/10. Could have been better, but still decent.

Now we must wait for season 3

Oh come on. Did they really show the thing online? This is bullshit. I don't want to watch it on the computer and now I still have to wait a week to figure out what happens.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I honestly think that Vaatu and Raava were too cliche & forced into the plot. There was never any mention of either of them in ATLA or the first season of LOK. Seeing as how it serves as the bedrock of the entire Avatar series (including ALTA) there should have been more hints dropped before, the show's creators should've had it planned in ATLA, or nixed the introduction of Raava & Vaatu. That origin story retconned the series' previous connections to specific animals being studied for bending. The Lion-turtles could've been incorporated without messing up the established story somehow, but I just feel like the backstory they went with just muddled everything up.

The whole lion turtles gave humans bending thing wasn't really a retcon though. The lion turtles gave people the ability to control specific elements, but they learned how to control them effectively by studying other animals with the same abilities. You see a dragon teaching Wan to firebend in the first episode of that two parter. The connection to different animals is still there, and I think that the explanation of the lion turtles for why some people can bend and some can't is better than people learning how to bend from animals, seeing as how it explains why some people develop bending and some don't.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

That wasn't a Deus Ex Machina ending.
It was a double Chekov's Gun ending.

It was pre-established that on their own accord Vaatu and Raava were unkillable. As long as one lived, the other would live.
It was also pre-established that an Avatar dying in the Avatar state would die permanently.

That made it completely logical that Raava would survive after being destroyed outside Korra's body, and it provided the solution to killing Vaatu permanently while he inhabited Unalaq.

I saw that ending coming from MILES away. You can't predict a Deus Ex Machina since they by definition come out of nowhere.

No, the deus ex machina was Jinora appearing out of nowhere with the revived Rava spirit.

The way they explained that Vatu and Rava's relationship worked is that once every 10,000 years one destroyed the other. Then for the next 10,000 years the destroyed spirit would regrow itself within the winning spirit, and then finally emerge again for their next battle.

After Rava was destroyed by Vatu it should have taken 10,000 years for her to get revived again, but Jinora did completely unexplained magic and just brought Rava back because...reasons I guess.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

Oh come on. Did they really show the thing online? This is bullshit. I don't want to watch it on the computer and now I still have to wait a week to figure out what happens.

Yep, the whole thing. Which is why we're all discussing it right now, so Spoilers X3

 

[KazeAizen]

Oh come on. Did they really show the thing online? This is bullshit. I don't want to watch it on the computer and now I still have to wait a week to figure out what happens.

Yep, the whole thing. Which is why we're all discussing it right now, so Spoilers X3

Bull. I'll just wait till next week. Its probably gonna be awesome. Every episode since Wan has been awesome.

 

[schrodinger]

Oh come on. Did they really show the thing online? This is bullshit. I don't want to watch it on the computer and now I still have to wait a week to figure out what happens.

Yep, the whole thing. Which is why we're all discussing it right now, so Spoilers X3

Bull. I'll just wait till next week. Its probably gonna be awesome. Every episode since Wan has been awesome.

If you really wanted to see the episodes now Nick.com has the season finale uploaded. It's a alternative to waiting until next friday.