Does The Legend of Korra Have a "Power Creep" Problem? All Things Korra + ATLA | 24 Hour Stream Rant

Playing Mario Sunshine + Talking Korra & Avatar The Last Airbender 👀
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#Korra #Avatar

[@KingOpenReview]

Toph is opposite to a cop, but also not in some ways. She was a criminal who was all "fuck the rules" as a kid, but also, she did care about helping people, and had a warrior way of going about that. Developing into a cop and then regretting it after seeing the actual consequences, isn't that strange.

[@RyanStorey1231]

Also, in Book 4, she talks extensively about how disillusioned she was about even the institution of policing and how ineffective it is at actually stopping crime at the root.

[@__-yf6fm]

dude i dont think its realistic that you would be able to keep your way of thinking when you are 12 all the way to adulthood

[@cass7448]

Also keep in mind that, even with her personal difficulties, she had a very privileged upbringing; first as a prominent noble's daughter, then as a close friend of the Avatar. I doubt she ever experienced true hardship outside of, y'know, fighting in a war.

[@MomsterGirl]

This time a billion.

[@iampuff7]

@@cass7448 I agree, but at the same time she managed to experience a life connected to the world and caring about the people that inhabits it. I'm glad the silver spoon didn't make her a snob

[@galacticspecter4364]

The whole Equalists movement was a wasted opportunity to explore the dynamic between nonbenders and benders

[@adeptdamage3669]

I think the whole benders vs. non benders dynamic is pointless, it should've been fire nation vs everyone else

[@chillinsquirtle]

@@garrett9945 how would that happen? Fire Lord Zuko just turns evil? Or raises an evil child?

[@chillinsquirtle]

@@garrett9945 my bad, could have swore i was replying to the other person

[@christianlima987]

people can make enemies of people out of pure resentment.

[@masync183]

honestly i think that the opposite is the problem. they DID do that and the dynamic was "we can control elemental forces you y'all cant, get fucked lol"

[@Kaijutopia]

Say what you want about Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, but inspiring discussions like these are what makes the shows remarkable.

[@Pontif11]

There are countless hours on analysis on those shows on the internet without even going into fan theories its crazy to me that the show i watched as a kid had so much going on that i still learn new thibgs about it today. Some of those hours are probably repeated information but still, impressive.

[@racoon251]

What

[@user-yr8ge3fz8o]

No Korra is just politically illiterate trash without a single functional character arc.

[@k_anth]

@@user-yr8ge3fz8o I don't think korra is trash but it's super cringey with it's centrist ass messaging

[@Mike-fp9ig]

ATLA is like Star Wars. Three original chapters came out decades ago, they were awesome and still feel nostalgic. Every iteration since has been fairly meh. But the fan base and discussions therein are the best part about both.

[@jeffner1929]

My big problem with legend of korra is that it doesn't show the impact of the ethnic conflicts that happened in ATLA. All the nations live together happy, when in reality the consequences of the fire nation's aggression should still be heavily present in the LOK world. Huge missed opportunity to have a fire nation supremacist villain who tries to paint ozai and the fire nation as victims of the avatar, and deny all the bad things the fire nation did against the other nations.

[@anonlvl1957]

TRUE Azula could be main villian

[@CODDE117]

I think they didn't want to Slytherinize the fire nation

[@BigTylt]

Should have had a Fire Nation "Heritage, not Hate" Andy somewhere

[@kap1618]

Also their should be a bit of Fire Nation antagonism with other nations. You can't go all fascist on the world for 100+ years and not have a few people not be paranoid about your continued existence especially when the current Fire Lord is the previous Fire Lord's son.

[@CODDE117]

@@kap1618 For sure! I wish we could've seen fire nations people oppressed or maybe just looked upon in an unfavorable way.

[@gudboah4688]

To me, Amon always came off as a nazbol. Someone who appeals to the working class, but is still extremely bigoted against minorities.

[@dukedankulos4987]

I see what you mean, but considering how advantaged benders are despite being a minority of the population. I don't think minority accurately describes benders. But Nazbol is probably the most accurate description of his ideology.

[@desmondtheneworder918]

@@dukedankulos4987 Just because they're privileged doesn't mean they're not a minority.

[@SuperSpectrom]

But he was a minority himself. He also had generational privilege so he's not a nazbol

[@dbclass2969]

@@desmondtheneworder918 In a academic sense, minority doesn’t describe numbers, it describes power in society. For example, black South Africans would be considered minorities under apartheid despite the fact that they make up the majority of the population.

[@FelisImpurrator]

@@PatheticApathetic Actually, it did go on to try to show that Amon did have a valid point and later seasons TRIED to build on the idea that statua quo does change as a result. They literally just ran out of show space because Nick were pieces of shit and kept cutting them down and forcing them to write certain dumb shit in like the love triangle. The point of Amon is that he's a grifter. He's this sort of fake leftist Jimmy Dore type, who uses valid talking points to slip insidious right wing bullshit through underneath the surface. Or - no - actually, he's a TANKIE. That's the point. He uses the aesthetics of working class politics to push for this sort of negative freedom, everyone suffers equally commieblock bastardization of equality. He's also basically this kind of unironic "yeah I do just hate white people because personal trauma" twitter lefty. Beating him was never meant to be a repudiation of egalitarian class politics, but rather a criticism of people who co-opt the cause of leftism for the sake of personal vendettas, which is a real big issue.

[@eliasfakename7158]

I just have to say it was hilarious that Vaush talk about how Amon's plan was unfeasible then moments later was planning to kill all the Cataquack (red duckbill things) then found out he couldn't.

[@Crawver]

I thought it was a joke he as doing at first.

[@JD-od6jh]

A big difference would be that Korra mastered the elements (except air) at a really young age (Her introduction scene where she's like 6 or something). So I can see how people see that as Korra inherently being stronger as Aang was. I also think Korra's journey was completely flipped from that of Aang. Aang was spiritually in tune to be the avatar, he just needed the power. Korra always had the power, she just wasn't mentally 'there'.

[@HeadGodoftheGodCouncil]

Korra was, and always will be, the strongest character in the verse. Korra also is the most spiritually connected person in the Avatar universe. It took her a while to learn, but when she did connect to her spiritual side, she improved greatly.

[@twenty-fifth420]

Or Spiritually. I love Aang alot, but I prefer Korra’s journey because she has development. I think she also had better villains that contrasted her personality. I think LOK gets alot of unnecessary hate, but one thing I might say is that the cast does feel like they bend different compared to ATLA. When Korra used Elements, I always thought she used them more like a boxer whereas Aang used it more like a monk. I think that is the key difference between the two but yeah. LOK is what you get when you have someone who is already technically close to being an avatar but spiritually/mentally was not fit for the job. Similar to Kuruk actually.

[@JD-od6jh]

@@twenty-fifth420 Yeah there are many many ways in which the creators tried to differenciate between the two. TLAB always had one overarching plot, and focused more so on the impact war had on populations in general, and then highlighting that with personal stories (Like in Zuko alone). Whereas Korra was much more structured in it's arcs with each one having a clear and differing motive to the previous villain. And it ofcourse focuses so much more on class structure. Honestly the best way for me to differ the two stories is to think about the 'kind of balance' both avatars are trying to achieve and what for them the meaning of 'balance' actually means. For Aang it's very black and white, defeat Ozai and end the war and balance will be restored. In Korra's time there is no war. There should be balance, but there isn't. I think that The legend of Korra should've been scaled up to an adolescent age group instead of the regular Nick demographic. It could've actually been pretty deep. Many people put Zaheer, for example, away as this usual 'overthrow the authority and insert anarchism' but he actually had a pretty deep, conflicting personality which i loved.

[@crestren5996]

"Korra's journey was completely flipped from that of Aang", thats pretty much it. Aang was spiritually gifted while Korra was physically gifted, total opposites. Also a neat parallel can be drawn in the situation theyre in; Aang didnt want to be the Avatar when the world needed him most, while Korra wanted to be the Avatar while the world didnt want her.

[@jdavis7993]

@@HeadGodoftheGodCouncil Only because we don't know every avatar and thanks to *great* storyline there will be no more. Hope there are never any problems again after she dies 🤔 cuz the world is prolly fucked after that.

[@Birthnote]

Mike and Bryan said that Civilization decreases Spirituality. In this series, Spirituality increases Bending Strength, and population reflects civilization. The Air Nomads had the smallest population but every single one was a bender, while the Earth Kingdom had the least benders despite the largest population. Korra is getting more industrialized and thus more civilized, so spirituality is getting left behind. Thus, weaker benders.

[@anarchomando7707]

Yeah honestly I don't care for that The fact they did anarchism dirty That's what pisses me off

[@cageybee7221]

@@anarchomando7707 that, and the fact that they did fascism clean right after.

[@daltongarrett3393]

Except for the fact that the benders are stronger, not weaker. Joe blow firebenders are generating lightning at the power plant. Something that was previously a dangerous, hyper-advanced form of fire bending only demonstrated by three of the most elite line of firebenders with a hereditary talent for the art and all the resources and training they could possibly want. Water and earth benders hardly seem to be struggling either. In fact metal bending and seismic sense are being taught to basically any earth bender that shows up for the training, even though they’re both extremely advanced techniques only recently discovered by one of the greatest earth bending prodigies ever. Metal bending was thought to be impossible for 10,000 years, and now toph can teach it to any earth bender, apparently.

[@sj4iy]

But that makes no sense at all. How can they be weaker while also bending lightning, blood, metal, and other high level techniques that were barely present just 60 years earlier.

[@mckenzie.latham91]

@@anarchomando7707 I disagree, they did Anarchism exactly how it has always worked A force that destabilizes everything and allows one of the only two other main systems to seize power capitalism or fascism in the case fascism.

[@ImaginaryMdA]

Imagine making sense after 24 hours. Couldn't be me!

[@markmontes17]

That murder suicide is still the most shocking death in all of the avatar verse for me. Just so unexpected

[@Birthnote]

@@garrett9945 I'm shocked too...cuz he didn't kill Ozai lol

[@Birthnote]

@@garrett9945 Suuuuure he did. I remember all the blood and guts Aang smeared on himself to celebrate Ozai's murder😏

[@kayakat1869]

When Zaheer took the air away from the Earth Queen. Like wow. Geez.

[@beanieguitarguy4070]

@@kayakat1869 Funnily enough, that was the last episode aired on TV before Korra fully transitioned to a web-exclusive show. 😂

[@nightblade3709]

@@garrett9945 Leftie misinfo spotted 👀

[@markmontes17]

Literally only the pro benders use the boxing style. So many people bring it up as if everyone using it but they literally don't

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

Tenzin definitely never used boxing style as he used to dislike pro-bending.

[@kjk607]

Kuvira kinda did too.

[@thijmstickman8349]

@@kjk607 Kuvira was fucking cool and creative with her bending though

[@lordmew5]

@@kjk607 kuvira was about precision which is what the boxing style was about. They talk about it early on

[@TheLithp]

The creators actually mention MMA way more than boxing, so it was hilarious when Vaush was going "I'm objectively right!' when he was actually not.

[@tophunter4865]

The whole point of Korra is the villians have a point, just to extremes. Also not having guaranteed seasons screwed it over.

[@theelectricant98]

it is kinda some lib american centrist shit as a result. still like it but its hard to deny with how they portrayed communism and anarchism as equivalent to right wing movements

[@tophunter4865]

@@theelectricant98 fair. I just wish they had gotten more seasons in a row, would have loved to see more Amon. And toned that shit down.

[@FelisImpurrator]

@@theelectricant98 It's not though. The whole point of S1 was that Amon was a grifter who betrayed socialist principles in every conceivable way, both by lying about his privilege and by pushing an outright tankie ideology of negative freedom/"equality" enforced by a handful of elites who monopolize violence. Tankies (and nazbols, which they do have elements of too) ARE right wing, so it is literally equivalent to a far right movement that has co-opted leftism. The thing with Zaheer isn't that all anarchism is bad, it's that left-wing accelerationist terrorism is a bad way to achieve anarchist goals. That's exactly why the show goes for this whole thing of "well the philosophy is kind of based, but the methodology is cringe" throughout. The subtext of "yeah, hierarchy itself does suck, whether it's inherent by birthright or by appointment" is pretty much brought home through Toph's disillusionment with policing as an institution and the descent of the Earth Kingdom into fascism despite having an appointed leader from a common background. The show is pretty consistent in implicitly validating actual progressive positions, while explicitly criticizing the way they're co-opted by bad faith actors. They did pretty well with that considering they barely had enough budget to finish the damn show. If they had been pushing for milquetoast liberalism, they wouldn't have written in a plot point like the spirit world merging with the human world and fucking the status quo over. They had full control over that aspect and could simply have written "welp, Korra saves the Avatar cycle and seals the portal again, see you in 1k years". Show just ran out of time and money because lol Nickelodeon.

[@mckenzie.latham91]

Nah they don’t though which is the issue they are presented and or told to us that they have a point but their actual motivation ruin the whole thing... -----Amon pushes the idea of equality issues between benders and non benders but then turns out he’s a bender who was abused and hates benders because of his abusive father ----Umalak says that the reason for his actions is to return spirituality to the water tribes and to appease the spirit world but then when he goes to take over the dark avatar state his goal is revealed actually be to basically kill the Avatar and turn the world into chaotic darkness ---Zaeer is said to care about freedom and opposes the oppression of forceful rule And yet then it turns out that Zaeer doesn’t;t care about what happens to society when all leaders and government, and order is destroyed he just wants his personal freedoms of being able to do whatever he wants to who ever he wants if he wants it it’s essentially chaotic selfishness, libertarian-terrorist attitude Kulvira: Is stated to want to bring order and national unity to the earth kingdom but is a fascist autocrat who wold rather force people to follow whatever is decided for them the points that they're supposed to have are derailed by something she which makes the whole thing pointless. What’s even worse is that Korra never does nothing to push for the ideals or points that they supposedly were for at all anyway.

[@JoseSerrato0420]

Korra is a protagonist that doesn't know what is right, she just knows what is wrong. Similar to Aang, the problem is that she's presented with 4 different villains to take down while Aang only has one. In Vaush sense, Korra is right because the enemy is blatantly wrong and she doesn't need an argument for her side, the enemy just needs a validation for theirs. And at the end of each season it's pretty much revealed that they adopt the non-facist version of each enemy. They get a non-bender representative, they keep the barrier between spirits and humans open, they decentralize the figure assisting and deciding morality, and lastly they remove inherent sovereignty in the earth kingdom. Each the lesser extreme of a fascistic idea.

[@calilaployploy2827]

The thing is that the whole boxing is mostly a pro bending thing... because is a sport, but look at how the red lotus moves or how tenzin move and it's still very kung fu like

[@billbutton8468]

Yea people who complain about the martial arts dont seem to notice that it has the logic behind it. They didnt just make it less like martial arts cause they were lazy or something.

[@justinlacek1481]

Exactly. That's why a lot of Korra's fighting techniques have a boxer stance to them. This was an explicit thing in the first few episodes because it Tenzin recognized it allowed her to have her own style that worked with airbending

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

Sanda would be cooler because its a more modern type of kung fu or at least stuff like Bajiquan or Choe ley fut

[@demetergrasseater]

But it’s only them. The point is that regardless of “style for the period” or “making sense for the characters,” the main cast all use very limiting bending styles so the majority of the bending we see is much weaker, less impressive, and less fun to watch than ATLA. Making sense is not the threshold of good.

[@markmontes17]

@@demetergrasseater You say less fun but Korra literally had the best choreod fights in the verse. Idk what you were watching

[@CrimsonOptics]

Vaush could literally say "murder is bad" and chat would say "such a bad take."

[@mrgaudy1954]

I am currently watching Jojo (just finished part 4) and the thing I find most refreshing is it's ability to sidestep the power scaling problem more or less completely. Switching the main cast of characters every part (which is an incredibly ballsy move) and having their abilities vary wildly in ways that transcend power levels keeps things so fresh. Going from the literal world level threats of Part 2 & 3 to more local, low stake conflicts in Part 4 was a breath of fresh air and would *not* have happened in most other shows where the next conflict always has to be bigger and badder than the previous.

[@avet4952]

Stands as a power system is ingenious in that way. The hand is op, but is limited by Okuyasu's iq

[@mrgaudy1954]

@@avet4952 Also when you’re setting up a fight, having the stand system that allows interesting synergy between characters and good/bad match ups is great for keeping things fresh and ensuring a wider cast of characters remain relevant throughout.

[@anmolt3840051]

To be fair, most of JoJo stories are very compact. Even part 3 Dio wasn't really a world ending threat. Only parts 2 and 6 are such I believe

[@mr.goblin6039]

JoJo is always written in a way where almost every conflict is personal and 90% of Stand users needs to actually use their brain to win a fight and not just punch their way through things to overpower them. Even Jotaro had to think and outsmart villains to actually get a single punch in.

[@everythingisfine8635]

@@anmolt3840051 dio was a time stopping immortal he was definitely a world ending threat

[@ChromaticFarmer7]

This is peak nostalgia for me, listening to a discussion about Avatar with sounds of Sunshine in the background.

[@HexCypherr]

I think s1 was just limited in the fact that they are now in a full city you cant just summon an earth wall or flood 2nd street because someone bumped into you so people developed more precise bending techniques using all elements almost exclusively as projectile guns

[@KarlSnarks]

Good point.

[@teddybear979]

I'd recommend kay and skittles' videos about korra's politics. For me another big problem with show was how useless korra's friends were in the story. It didn't have a big narrative that tied them together (like ATLA) so it didn't even make sense why they were with her sometimes. ATLA was so good with that. Everybody had a reason to be together and they felt like a family, while also getting separate development which came from the thing that tied them together. (the war)

[@seileen1234]

Honestly they are like coworkers... so not a great chemistry for this kinda show

[@teddybear979]

@@seileen1234 I wouldn't say that. They're more like her friends, but like don't they have jobs? Like Asami has to run a whole company by herself. Does she really have the time to go get some airbenders from the earth kingdom?

[@actpossum]

You should also check out Hellofuturemes's video on Amon

[@markmontes17]

You realize that they stayed together for only short periods (when there was a crisis and shit happening) cause they're friends and that's what they do right? They've shown plenty that they each fo their own thing. So it's not like they're always with Korra like you suggest

[@justinlacek1481]

It's strange because the show kinda explicitly shows each of her friends having their own lives that drive them apart from Korra in certain areas. Asami and her business, Mako and his work in the police explicitly driving apart their relationship, and Bolin's odd jobs - even to the point where he was working with Kuvira in season 4. If you're going to criticize LoK, I dont think it makes sense to attack her friends for being there too much. In ATLA, every time Aang's friends had a chance to do something of their own, they stayed by his side. LoK is the show where that doesn't happen.

[@letsstickygoat6672]

"Bring me the sacred copyright oils"

[@tcmaster5000]

I think a good way they could have portrayed the inequality in the society would have been the jobs delegated to non-benders (farming and shop keepers primarily) because the better, high-paying jobs (power plant workers, cops, architects, athletes, etc.) are reserved exclusively for benders

[@aquack9919]

Vaush actually made really good points. He actually explains how they how the writing and politics could have been improved and what it did well instead of just complaining about it being neoliberal and ending it there.

[@nolanstauffer9405]

Holy shit, vaush talked about this for over an hour? I'll be back after my classes are over

[@BigaloMax]

Personally I feel like Amon was trying to pull a "you are all clearly oppressed by capitalism and im here to tell you this minorities are the reason why" type of thing but they didn't quite explain what was the real inequality so it failed to execute.

[@samescourt3801]

Exactly my problem with it. No inequality or disparities are actually shown or explained in the story.

[@BigaloMax]

@@samescourt3801 would have been interesting if they had shown benders having more money or being business owners . It's like an Earth Bender Only construction company Or a fire Bender only smelting company. Basically showing all the jobs going to the benders

[@anmolt3840051]

I believe almost all authority figures were benders. The fact that the police force seemed to be exclusively made up of metal benders was problematic to say the least

[@justinlacek1481]

@@samescourt3801 The main scene is when Tonrak (w.e. his name is) uses the police force to arrest an entire march of protesters. That was probably the biggest breach of trust and equality shown in season one. Also too is that the authority figures were almost entirely benders. I dont think this is explained explicitly, but you can tell if you pay attention. This is actually the reason why whatshisface became the non-bending president of the city afterwards.

[@SenorZorros]

the funny thing is they went both ways. First they went "there's oppression" without justifying it. Then they went "your leader is fake" while forgetting to address the oppression they alleged there was one way or another.

[@sayrahjohans3559]

Vaush 100% needs to check out the kyoshi novels if he hasn’t. The novels tackle some of the themes LOK tried to tackle but do a much better job of it. Kyoshi is hella based

[@rei3707]

Oh my god they were so poorly written though. I wish they had just been a comic.

[@sayrahjohans3559]

@@rei3707 I thought they were pretty alright especially when it comes to describing the bending cause that’s just bound to get messy. I will say the last thing I tried to read before the kyoshi novels were the dragon prince novelizations so my bar was very very low I love dragon price but like holy crap my dude Aaron Ehaz has no right to have such a big ego I like the comics well enough but I think the plot of the comics tends to be kinda weak

[@rei3707]

@@sayrahjohans3559 oh yeah I wish the comics had the storytelling of the Kyoshi novels. I really think they added a lot with the Kyoshi story and that her story was interesting but that it would have been great visually. Who knows maybe we'll get a movie or something!

[@sayrahjohans3559]

@@rei3707 having a new set of hands invested in the world was really nice. I’m hoping with the avatar studios stuff they bring in more people and don’t just try to solo run it with just mike and Bryan. They do good work but some of the best avatar ideas came from collaboration

[@Fluttersniper]

I fully disagree with the “non-benders weaker” take. Some of the strongest fighters in the series were non-benders. Ty Lee and Mai were Azula’s hunting partners, and between those two Ty Lee’s chi-blocking was considered nightmarishly powerful. She was the Kenshiro of Avatar; if she got in range, a couple hits was enough to put you down. She went up against, like, 10 or 20 Earth Kingdom soldiers and just, like, obliterated them. EVERYONE feared her. Chi-blocking became even more dangerous in groups and in the confined areas of a city where ambushes could be massively successful. I always thought it was weird how Amon preached about non- bender weakness, but he had an army of chi-blockers who kept *winning fights.* Like, they won or successfully escaped almost every fight, and successfully overthrew the police force and government of Republic City.

[@TsuyoiOfFreedom3]

I admit I don't remember well, but I believe he didn't preach non bender weakness so much as they were treated lesser by the benders. Supposedly they were discriminated against though I only remember them being targeted by bender gangs that way.

[@PlanetaryPluto]

Those People Were Exceptions And They Don't Break The Rule. Your Average Bender Will Be Far More Powerful Than Your Average Non Bender. Ty Lee And Mai Can't Learn Air, Earth, Fire Or Water Bending. Whereas A Bender Could Probably Learn Their Skills - Probably. But Then Again... They Are Exceptional.

[@muichu1619]

In addition to that, Zaheer was locked up in a special maximum security prison just like his 3 teammates. Meaning he was just about as dangerous as them even though he couldn't bend at all. And when he got air bending he was even more dangerous.

[@BigaloMax]

PLUS there's also the spiritual powers you can get through mysticism (or in the case of iroh , exploring the spirit realm) whit out the need of being a bender . Sure guru's are good guys but what if one became a witch doctor and he used his enhanced spiritual awareness to communicate whit lesser spirits and convince them to do things like posses people. There are many avenues they could explore when it comes to giving none benders a fighting chance.

[@Cris-if8kf]

@@muichu1619 That's another issue I have with Kora. Zaheer Is told time and time again to be nasty even before bending which is never shown or anything else from that matter. It would have been a perfect opportunity two show how, why.

[@bascal133]

They did Amon dirty. The show never actually engaged with his criticism about society being unfair they just write him off because he's a hypocrite. You can be a hypocrite and still be right!

[@glenny7862]

It had a bit of "Don't ever trust them socialists, they are all liars!"

[@derrekgillespie413]

The show literally recognized that the United Republic Council was unjust, and it was seen as a good thing that it was disbanded. That's how president Raiko was elected in the first democratic election

[@matttthewcheng]

Azula might have a nosedive, tragic arc, but it's hinted at as early as her first dialogue in the series. It's subtle (or I'm dumb, because I didn't catch it until after a few rewatches): "Almost perfect isn't good enough" "Do the tides command this ship?" 1st watch: Oh, she's a boss On rewatching: Oh, no...she's insane and psychotic. In battle, no one argues that she's a brilliant tactician, but her lack of understanding tides and how dangerous it could be to try and dock the ship at a bad time just hints at how unhinged and powermad Azula is or could become. I almost want the ship captain to put her in her place, but that would ruin the purpose of this introductory scene and the hint at how Azula's story ends (before the comics).

[@FelisImpurrator]

Azula's story is actually kinda sick, because it's a pretty nuanced subversion of the common trope that psychopathy = inherent evil. Instead, it shows that her issues were shaped by the fact that literally every other human being she knew treated her with instinctive fear and hatred, even her mother, and she just ended up becoming the monster everyone else saw her as because she was never given any chance or any incentive to be anything else.

[@LaigledeMeaux]

On Zuko's redemption arc. It almost feels like Zuko could have been the main character. He has just as much characterization as Aang. Like, a show from Zuko's point of view would have been just as good if not better than what we got. Really great stuff.

[@Yormolch]

There were a lot of episodes from his point of view though, so in my eyes he always was kind of a second protagonist.

[@rache8323]

It's, "Do the thing, Zhu Li", but I'll forgive him since he had been awake for 26 hrs for a good cause. 🥳

[@simontitus4867]

The way korra has this much power authority and the willingness to have an impact on the world, but doesn't really have a thought through ideology more than "bad people bad, but sometimes bad people a bit right" is super frustrating. It kind of reminds me of lefty activists, that are super active and emotionally invested in social problems, but as soon as they are confronted in their beliefs by someone, even with pretty basic arguments, they struggle to articulate it. Which is understandable, not everyone enjoys arguements and debates, but it's a pretty big problem with left activism in its current state imo (at least my experience in Germany).

[@Spriteanimator1]

Aged like fine wine.

[@TheBaggyc]

Whether you like or dislike Korra I think we can all agree that the giant mech was a little much

[@m.czandogg9576]

That and it has some GREAT animation.

[@billbutton8468]

Hell no that was awesome

[@LemmingPriest]

I actually like the mech because to me because it kind of asks what’s the use of an avatar when we essentially have nukes. The avatar’s role is to stop conflict but every conflict evolves technology. Making the old traditional ways of the avatar bringing peace solo obsolete. Maybe I’m just reading in too much.

[@joe2k20]

wrong

[@abednegokurio9244]

I dislike Giant Korra vs Giant Evil Waterbender Guy a lot more

[@SenorZorros]

I think the main reason for the power creep is that the "cool stuff" from the earlier series, which is established as being the result of either years of dedicated and intense study, extreme situations resulting in desperate measures or both, is presented as mundane. To the point that "don't wink at the wrong time or it'll kill you" lightning-bending is considered a side job for people who are low on cash instead of the pinnacle of either talent or dedication it was. This is then done without giving any justification for why it has become common except for "we dun figured it out" and the fact that the top skills last time are considered the floor in the new thing. So while, at least in the first season, the effects themselves are not necessarily stronger and in a way more contained. The range of abilities is far greater than it was. Without there being a justification that the martial arts which were if anything more performed a hundred years ago and are not technologically amplified in any known way are so much easier to use now. Same with metal binding. Even after she discovers it Toph's metalbinding is crude and rough. Symbolising she has only limited control and needs to exert a lot of effort. The police, which is not as skilled as toph, can just form metal to their will. Which begs the question. If it was so easy to learn and master is after discovering how to do bend metal. Why has it not been discovered before. Also it has the real downside of watering down the personal achievements of the characters in the last air-bender for whom these things were momentous feats performed by prodigies after at least a decade of study each in extreme circumstances.

[@zeroperator]

Unalac was a religious extremist until the writers decided, actually we need a world ending bad guy.

[@FelisImpurrator]

But it tracks though. Spirits were always obscenely powerful eldritch abominations in ATLA. One pair of them was literally the moon, and you think it wouldn't have ended the entire world if Zhao had actually managed to leave the Moon Spirit dead? That's like saying it would be weird if a bunch of Cthulhu cultists in a world where Cthulhu explicitly exists turned out to be a reality-shattering threat because they're trying to summon Cthulhu.

[@JRexRegis]

One thing I just _really_ disliked was the whole "take away bending" thing. The ninja guys, Amon himself, it just turns the power that's spiritually a part of you into something incredibly flimsy. Literally the _only_ time it happened in TLA was in the last episode of the last season, in the thematic fight between full-power Aang and Ozai, and even in their spiritual conflict, Ozai *almost* won. The idea that some pressure points can just disable bending is really dumb.

[@healgoth]

So I assume you thought it was equally dumb that Aang was only able to re-access the Avatar state after hitting his back on some rocks in the right way that it cracks open his chakras? Yes it bothered you? Then it’s okay because that’s how the soft magic in this show works and you can be personally bothered by its consistency. Still doesn’t make it consistent with given canon.

[@aceofsharks9837]

Hello Future Me made a really good video about the stylistic difference of bending between TLA & Legend of Korra. To put it simply, since industrial buildings, paved roads, house, etc exist and are costly to repair; bending more carefully and conservatively became the norm. The moments where benders cut loose, like Korra vs Tarlock in his office, feel especially noteworthy to the viewer & characters because of how constrained they've become.

[@prisma6799]

I would have liked it if they had expanded more on street variations of bending styles, picture a water bending that uses moves from brake dance, for example

[@aceofsharks9837]

@@prisma6799 Oh absolutely, I would've loved to see that.

[@SenorZorros]

Haven't watched the video but honestly, I think it's a bit of a weak argument because 1. A competent earthbender can patch any hole in a minute. and a crew can probably kick up an apartment block in a day and 2. Do you know how expensive building were in medieval times? There is a lot of work in carpentry with hand tools and wood can be scarce and therefore expensive. Also because not every tree could be used. Mass-produced brick was a cheaper, more versatile and more available material and there is more construction because it could be afforded. Don't get me talking about concrete which is even cheaper. Roads can also be paved because technology has allowed prices to go down. There is the argument that the chance for more people getting hurt is higher though I still would not imagine that being an issue for all-out fights.

[@aceofsharks9837]

@@SenorZorros That's a fair point. The closest thing to a "counter" I can think of is: the building in Legend of Korra are essentially the same as ours. As in, wood, plaster, electrical wiring, steel, etc. Bending would definitely make build far easier than it is in real life; but it would still be costly if people tossed around house sized boulders like they did in TLA.

[@renaigh]

where Aang was Spiritual strong and Physically self-nerfed (because he was a pacifist) Korra was the opposite, she was Physically 'hot-headed' but Spiritually dense.

[@maviebaby]

I think the main distinction between the abilities from ATLA to Korra is raw power vs versatility. For instance, ATLA-era earth benders probably bend more tonnes of earth on average however Korra-era earth benders produce more metal benders, lava benders, etc. ATLA-era water benders can trap/move warships and draw water out of trees, making them shrivel & explode. Korra-era water benders could blood bend outside of a full moon, take your bending away & pacify/corrupt spirits, etc. So, is it better to be able to move more stuff or to be able to do more things? Both are awesome for different reasons.

[@xavier84623]

Your so right about the power downgrade, but at the same time they trivialize higher bending forms, like lightning and metal. It was really dumb

[@skytiger215]

The problem with Korra is that it tried to tackle so many political ideologies without truly understanding them and their nuance. Also it feels like the writers looked at everything for lack of a better word, from a "white liberal" perspective. For example, do these people think that a civil right's leader being a "hypocrite" would lead its members to just drop the movement entirely and that implementing a minority as a president answers all of their problems.

[@justinlacek1481]

That didn't exactly happen. The Equalist Movement is actually still around, even after the concessions the government made. It's just that they're not a main part of the story anymore. They're just a lot weaker because their main leaders are either dead or gone

[@ParadoxBoxx]

this is the take, king. ty

[@skytiger215]

@@justinlacek1481 You're gonna have to give me an exact example of this because after season 1 I'm pretty sure they are never seen again. And I've watched each season at least 2 times.

[@austinjohnsen4430]

@@skytiger215 I believe that’s covered in one of the video games. Albeit one of the more obscure ones.

[@skytiger215]

@@austinjohnsen4430 Well, that's nice. But it's not in the show. So, eh.

[@FranklyImaPerson]

I will never understand why they thought having the anti christ as the main antagonist of season 2 was a good idea. I know they thought they had to end the show then but the fact that they even considering having a story line who's ending is the severing and cessation of the avatar lineage, thereby eradicating Aang, Roshi, and every other Avatar from existence. Like... what. That and off screening Sokka's death (by the virtue they never reference him outside of the one flash back). Think about Katara's mind state, the fact that her brother is dead, her husband is dead, and supposedly lives on within someone they have to spend every day with until the same person allows them to he eradicated so even when they die they will never see eachother again

[@lokimiguel2452]

Lol aang is not dead and neither would katar ever meet aang again

[@derrekgillespie413]

Amon wasn't a union leader. He was LITERALLY a grifter using social animus to take control of the city. It represents a very real parallel in the real world of people co-opting social movements to enact personal goals. Seems based to me

[@polarisator9892]

54:32 The monks and the nuns lived in different temples. Basically every child of an air nomad would have been an air bender. The monks taught (?) proper bending to the kids. Those, who would not become nuns/monks, would be your standard air nomads and procreate. And the nuns/monks... well not much snu-snu for them.

[@samuelclayhills3298]

Tarrlok was the guy who told Korra that they are both willing to use force to get what they want ironically hes Amons brother

[@kenpatchiramasama1076]

"massive power down" well yeah, a lot of time of no war passed. I assume most folks would power down

[@miyuedelfelt2676]

TBF the reason most people weren’t doing as big of things was because they were in a city most of the time, and building destroying attacks would almost certainly get you in trouble.

[@Sophia-vk5bq]

Maybe the difference between the treatment of Zehir and Kovira was actually giving the watcher an example of Kora’s and the other characters’ bias towards different ideas and their favoritism of the status quo. Favoring one side isn’t necessarily a view held by the writers here but an exploration of the characters and a chance for the audience to make their own judgements. Like Vaush is doing here.

[@porterc5751]

Juu dee (idk how to spell it) are the “there is no war in bah sing se ladies” from Alta. Zhu li is the name of Varricks assistant

[@horrendousaurus810]

The Air Nomads were traditionalists, but they also didn’t have any rulers. That’s where Zaheer’s ideas of non-authority being the natural state of humanity come from and why he was an Airbender in the first place.

[@williammckenzie6865]

they had elders who made decisions that other people followed and were highly respected, so why they dont have a king like the fire or earth kingdom they still have a hierarchy

[@eagleleft]

@@williammckenzie6865 reminds me of jirgaz in tribal societies in Pakistan

[@FelisImpurrator]

@@williammckenzie6865 That's kind of not too far from how anarchy works, still, because situational, expertise based hierarchy is valid even in a community without a centralized state. It's fixed, arbitrary hierarchies of power and privilege that are worth questioning and overthrowing. Zaheer ironically doesn't understand the *whole* relationship between the spirit world, the human world, and the Avatar, though, or doesn't really understand the implications - he's sort of an anprim in a world where the primitive state of existence is kind of a clusterfuck, and humans were *inevitably* minorities because spirits were so much more inherently powerful.

[@williammckenzie6865]

@@FelisImpurrator ya, thats my biggest issue with both korra and vaush's take because zaheer has no idea what hes talking about, his voice actor is just really good at delivery so he sounded smart and like he had a point. also you could make the argument that zaheer's ideology is directly what allowed kuveria to take power almost implying that the writers think fascism is the natural outcome of anarchy

[@AToZed71]

I will forever love Legend of Korra more than anything cause i related to her with the ptsd arc so bad it started me down my genderqueer journey

[@zebo8000]

How does a dogshit show affect u that much

[@AToZed71]

@@zebo8000 short answer: I was in a terrible place mental health wise and after seeing kora struggle with ptsd i felt connected to the show and a) it helped me by giving me something to look forward to which ultimately bought me time to get help, and b) after i related to kora i started imagining myself as a 6ft fighting woman and it genuinely made me happy, i know thats silly but hey

[@zebo8000]

@@AToZed71 atleast someone got something good out of it

[@markmontes17]

@@zebo8000 a lot of people did, so stop being cringe. Not liking Korra doesn't make you cool

[@mr.goblin6039]

Seasons 3 and 4 of Korra were a big improvement over season 2, but it sucks that so many still see Korra as a whole like as if it didn’t change or get better. To me, Korra’s journey and character got better after season 2, but BOY did that season mess up Korra’s image to the general public.

[@lunsen402]

if i don´t remember wrong Kay and Skittles did a great video series on the villains of legend of korra. If anyones intressted, he talk mainly on the ideology of each villain as he interpetates it

[@LimeyLassen]

Yeah, what makes it hard for me to take Korra seriously is that the show is mostly about politics, and its politics are shallow. I dunno how you salvage that.

[@lunsen402]

@@LimeyLassen agreed. I do enjoy watching Korra (couse i like avatar to much not to). But its also very annoying that the politics is to shallow as you mention. Maby its becouse its on nick and they felt it would fly over the head of a kids to much...

[@Jidom_101]

Personally i enjoyed korras arcs way more than aangs, aang seemed to get pulled in the direction of his destiny aside from the finale in choosing to kill Ozai or not. Aangs story with having to deal with being assumed dead for 100 years is definitely interesting but i’ve always felt more interested with korras. Korra had to deal with the political baggage of being the avatar and also with the culture of being one with learning under Tenzin. I was just always more invested in the more real world applications of being an avatar in a modern-political climate

[@ParadoxBoxx]

the implications of the avatar existing in a modern political climate is incredibly interesting. the main issue is that korra fucking sucks

[@PlanetaryPluto]

@@ParadoxBoxx 100% The Concept Is Indeed More Interesting. It's More Of A Ideological And Philosophical Battle On Why/If The Avatar Is Necessary. But Yeah Korra Just "Might Makes Right" Through It. Aang Somehow Manages To Offer Better Counter Arguments To His Opponents Despite His Show Not Really Being Focused On That.

[@diegoseba12]

AANG WAS PULLED IN THE DIRECTION OF DESTINY

[@jdavis8373]

There's a big difference between concept and execution. The concept of Korra is pretty interesting, and does have more potential than Atla did. The execution, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired. Korra's personal arc feels broken, with her character basically being reset in every book except 4. Korra never actually challenges her opponents based on their politics. The show generally tells people that trying to change the status quo is bad, even if something is clearly wrong with it. I like the focus on politics, but it means nothing if your protagonist does not interact with those politics at all, and the world around them refuses to actually change in any meaningful way. (Sorry for the essay lol)

[@ParadoxBoxx]

​@@diegoseba12 aang debated destiny cant believe he would platform him like that

[@lukelyon1781]

I only started the video, but now that you talk about the martial arts style and how it affected the motions of bending, in the final season when they get to Kuvira, I can tell they're starting to incorporate more elements from Taekwondo with the quick jabs, and with the Red Lotus there are a lot of elements from MMA and Muay Thai as well as Krav Maga with the improvisational attacks and elbows, knees, chops, kicks, etc.

[@lurkingposter]

It really feels like the bending was weaker to give the equalists a fighting shot.

[@Haverlock]

Yeah I felt that way too. I understand it's a kids show but a better solution for making the equalists a threat might have been just giving them guns. Metal Benders seem to be in short supply in the city or at least in the city and every other technology seemed to have evolved significantly. So arming them with revolvers and bolt action rifles might have been a good move.

[@billbutton8468]

@@Haverlock LoK wasnt aimed at kids

[@Haverlock]

@@billbutton8468 Fair enough but still Nick has a brand to protect. Some parents might not care for some guy with a 38. special shooting at the protagonist after spongebob and fairly odd parents. Even with the Batman the animated series the creators had to kinda sneak around the censors to get actual firearms on the show.

[@markmontes17]

No they just didn't wanna destroy the whole city. They're actually liable to the destruction they cause this time as shown in the first episode

[@dumpsockpuppet5619]

Personally i think it also has to do with the time period they are in, ATLA took place during a war that had lasted over a hundred years at this point, and benders were the main combattants and fought mostly on battlefields, so hitting hard was the norm; meanwhile ATLoK, took place decades after the end of the war, and the technological advances have started overtaking bending as the backbone of societal development, also now most of the populace lives in the big, dense cities, and if they were to use too liberaly their bending they would damage the infrastructure and get in trouble, so they were less used to fighting and the environment actively dissuaded them from push the limits of what could they do Also, chi-blocking NEEDS to be close combat, and a narrow city layout gives them an advantage for guerrilla tactics, not to mention now they have higher numbers, but as we saw during Varrik's raids, if they were the ones to get caugh by surprise, they fell down hard, a bender would've have a fighting chance, but for most equalist their raids were Do or die... Untill they got mechas, then they were all like FUCK YOU BENDERS

[@actpossum]

Kyoshi beat the shit out of a bunch of cops in the books. The books are are SO FUCKING GOOOOD

[@HappyGingerWolf]

I think that kuvira getting saved by an act of almost self sacrifice makes more sense because her ideology was built on cruelty, whereas zaheer's isn't. Zaheer doesn't reject kindness, so showing him kindness isn't meaningful

[@nagohnibor1967]

Amon wanted to enact revenge for his father because Aang used blood bending to remove his bending. That's a real case of oppression in my opinion; Aang literally removed a genetic trait of a perceived criminal class without any legal oversight.

[@travishimebaugh8381]

Well, it wasn't just perceived, he'd been enslaving people regularly And his escape from the courtroom makes it clear he really can't be captured or restrained if he doesn't want to be. Running low on options here. If it's permissible for Ozai, well...

[@emylily8266]

Just one thing, Aang couldn’t blood bend, he spirit bender the magic away like with Ozai.

[@Serbrethren]

im only about 20 minutes in so idk if he covers this but the power creep wasn't related to the traditional bending, it was the fact that a lot of the more niche sub-skills of bending like lightningbending and metalbending suddenly became really commonplace to the point where the former is a power plant job and the latter is almost the entire police force of republic city it got to the point where by the end of the series you had giant platinum mechs that were immune to metalbending so as to get around the fact that so many earthbenders could metalbend now edit: just remembered that basically all the equalists are chi-blockers too, that's a bit much methinks

[@politiqueen420]

The only exception to Avatars being used by their nation state is Aang. By the time he awoke, his nation was gone and despite the pressure that was put on him by his friends to kill Ozai, he didn't cave in. Even interrupted the avatar state to prevent Ozai from being killed. Even though there is plenty reason to kill him, Aang was so convicted in his morality that he couldn't bring himself to take Ozai's life. We need more avatars like Aang. EDIT: There is also Aang predecessor (I forget his name) who opposed the fire nation going to war and refused to offer support.

[@hugojack6547]

Its weird that they kinda showed that the fire benders were being exploited, because they were used to produce electricity with their lightning bending.

[@tyruskarmesin5418]

I think “hired to do a job they were uniquely suited to” might be a better description of the situation.

[@hugojack6547]

@@tyruskarmesin5418 nah bro those were some pre-unionisation working conditions right there. They were suited to it but that doesn’t mean they still can’t be exploited.

[@JRexRegis]

It's also really fucking weird that lightning-bending, which Iroh describes as requiring a sort of perfect inner balance between yin and yang completely alien to most people, is just a side gig to firebenders in LoK.

[@joefollo4891]

My problem with Korra’s use of powers is that it kind of blew its load on every “special” bending. The story starts with elements mastered, lightning benders doing common work, metal benders everywhere, bloodbenders abound, avatar state at the drop of a hat, chi blocking ninjas are commonplace. Regardless of how realistic this progression is, special bending isn’t special anymore. The only good special bender was Zahir with his flight. Overall, that’s kind of what people mean by saying “power creep” despite not doing wide range bending. It doesn’t help that bending across the board lost any of its old distinctions and signifiers. Also… the bulk of the series is set in a city that doesn’t inherit any of the setting’s cultural features. Also fuck the Raava and Vaatu Dark Avatar.

[@joefollo4891]

@@garrett9945 Lost my comment, so a short recap. Special bending used to be exclusive to those who were full masters of their element. At least, that’s the impression Last Airbender gave. It’s a matter of being as good as Katara, Ozai, or Toph. It’s quite a jump to go from that to having every police officer have the ability. With the avatar state, it was never a flick of the switch thing. You either got it if you fell into it, or if you mastered it, you’ve got it full force. Korra just edges into it a bit whenever, really. It doesn’t help with what they did to it in season 2… so, what even is the Avatar State if it just comes and goes and is unrecognizable? I think this was done best in season 3, too.

[@Nagasakevideo]

Feel like in Cora the Avatar state seems less important. It's like super saiyan where it used to be a huge power boost, but in book two and book one you see Korra going into the Avatar state in almost every fight pretty much at will, when it happened with Ang it was very specific, it was a set piece when it happened. And you don't really see Cora fighting with the power of thousands of elemental Masters over centuries and millennia, you see her basically doing the stuff she already does but she hits a little bit harder.

[@FelisImpurrator]

The point was kind of that she could use the Avatar State but never really connected spiritually to it, as in, she wielded her incarnations' raw power like a cudgel instead of looking to her past lives for guidance and wisdom. Also budget cuts. Especially later on.

[@benburke3015]

19:05 I mean I liked season 2 fine, though the pacing was very erratic at points and the romantic sub-plot between Korra and Mako went on for way too long. I guess the worst thing you can say about season 2 is that season 3 takes everything established in it and just builds upon it in a much more interesting way. Also, the villains get way more interesting and engaging from that point on, like Zaheer is genuinely one of my favourite villains in the Avatar franchise.

[@sillysimic79]

It feels like the industrial revolution of the series changed everything. EVERY fire bender can use lightning now, and the fighting is more modern too. Like how back in the day there would be kung fu masters that would probably get shit on in the ring by an amateur boxer

[@davidtrujillo1689]

The point about Aang being a prodigy… OF COURSE HE IS, he’s the avatar dude, by birthright he is a prodigy, all avatars are

[@lokimiguel2452]

Kyoshi not so much

[@jotabeas22]

Legend of Korra had an issue with each season's themes, and that's extremecentrist politics views being the "good" idea.

[@snapgab]

I don't think they ever advocated for extreme centrism... They weren't even against radical change, Korra opening the spirit portals was radical change, air nomad culture radically changed. The message is just against stupid kinds of radical change, it's basically just an anti-tankie message lol. Korra never even disagreed with Zaheer's stated goals, she just disagreed with the murdery way he went about it, because his murdery ways were fucking stupid and led to the rise of Kuvira.

[@RevolutionaryLoser]

Wtf? how is it centrist in any way? Is anarchism centrist now?

[@jaybee27D]

@@snapgab yeah exactly this

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

Extreme centrism? I thought Legend of Korra suffered from liberalism good, other political views like egalitarianism, anarchism and populism bad.

[@Serbrethren]

less extremecentrist and more blithe liberalism

[@ridori7376]

I think lightning bending is what got the worst treatment BY FAR. Like in ATLA lightning bending was scary. It was this secret ultra lethal form of fire bending that only a select few ever managed to replicate and that we only got to see in the show in very few occasions. The way Iroh talks about it when he's teaching Zuko how to reverse lightning, how the slightest mistake could cost you your life, also really helped to reinforce that. It made Ozai and Azula feel more threatning and it was so satisfying when Zuko finally redirects lightning for the first time. And then in just the first episode of Korra we see a bunch of firebenders chucking some tiny ass lightning into a machine as their 9 to 5 job. I dunno, it feels like a super lame, unthreatning and bastardized version of it.

[@pioneershark2230]

I mean, it kinda makes sense that the ability would become more common in an industrialised society

[@ridori7376]

@@pioneershark2230 But like. It was supposed to require this enlightened, focused state of mind. That's why Zuko couldn't do it. It just feels weird that any random can just learn it so easily. And even then it's not like it suddently becomes less dangerous. It's like every fire bender is walking around with an infinite ammo anti-materiel rifle attached to their hands and somehow they never draw attention to it.

[@xtensioncordtv1969]

Season 2 of Korra is so disappointing on rewatch. The start of it with the south north pole civil war had the potential to be one of the best seasons of TLOK and ATLA in general and then they just dropped it.

[@periwinkle1136]

Instead of making a nuanced season with a justifiable bad guy and no easy or clear solutions, they made the bad guy objectively evil.

[@LimeyLassen]

@@periwinkle1136 That's what TLA did tho

[@adeptdamage3669]

@@LimeyLassen Except Last Airbender intended to be a hero's journey.

[@kayakat1869]

The Red Lotus arc is really badass and cool. They are just a gang of cool and violent benders that have these super interesting bending styles. Like damn, what cool villains. They did a lot of messed up stuff, but sometimes it's fun to just watch bad people in shows and movies just enjoy themselves.

[@themanmrbijok7364]

Im gonna look forward to if/when this community start talking about the magic system in Wheel of Time when the show comes out. There’s a lot of similarities between the two series.

[@paconotaco]

I just hope the show is successful, nothing would make my fantasy nerd heart happier

[@themanmrbijok7364]

@@paconotaco They are already filming season 2. Also there’s also a lot of cultural and societal commentary that can be viewed on the same level as A:TLA. Though i am bracing for the massive amount of Anti-SJW content that will come out against it, but we’ll have to see.

[@BigaloMax]

I very much DOUBT the show runners think that facism is not as bad as anarchism. Personally i just think they wanted to make korra look more heroic and benevolent, almost being more Aang like . Or It could have been just paternalistic sexim, kuvira is a woman after all

[@madsceptictrooper6803]

I blame the neoliberal bias of Nickelodeon for The Legend of Korra not having complex and compelling portrayal of extreme political views.

[@dirtyfilthystinky]

i wish lok had one plot throughout the series rather than four. that's a big reason i like atla more i think

[@adeptdamage3669]

Yeah I think the core issue with Korra is that it had too much going on.

[@craigstephenson7676]

I got less moral abomination vibes from zehir and more thanos vibes like a cold, calculating, self-righteous villain, someone who does the wrong things for the right reasons and only begrudgingly accepts the power he was given.

[@chaosflash912]

I'm only 6 minutes into the video and as a combat sports fan, Vaush has a point. There's only so much you can do with punches.

[@randomfluffypup9608]

vaush really saying the power level went down when they had PSYCHIC BLOOD BENDING without the full moon

[@greanbeen2816]

That was two characters. It was not incorporated into the general power level of the population. And bloodbending doesn’t destroy continents.

[@f_f_f_8142]

@@greanbeen2816 Ozai's ability was also not "incorporated into the general power level of the population". In particular there are only three characters able to create lightning. But that very same ability is "incorporated into the general power level of the population" as a low wage factory job in LOK. I don't want to hear your explanation about knowledge getting out or something. That is not the point. What they did was take all the super special abilities from ATLA and made them common, removed the conditions and then decreased their strength to compensate, like Korra can control the avatar state so it needs to be weaker otherwise she wins every fight.

[@heatran1919]

All 4 villains all pitted against eachother (with Amon rewritten to not have all his actions motivated by daddy issues) would make for a really interesting narrative. It would be a lot easier to explore their ideologies without Korra being a neutral-good ideological blank slate

[@fangsabre]

Kuvira is a villain who changed her ways and got a mercy reprieve. Zaheer is not changing his ways. He may not be pursuing his goals, or even necessarily maintain the same goal. But he's not changing his values, and he's not going to suddenly renounce his entire ideology. IfI were to guess the feeling that Zaheer is more sinister is because he's a true believer. And more than that, he's a fanatic. Kindof in the same way Magneto is sometimes portrayed. Not even necessarily wrong, even from the protagonists perspective, but fanatical in his conviction

[@user-x7dc2pq7n]

The worst part for me was the lack of journey. It seems more like a laid back drama. I remember Avatar being a constant, focused journey to end the fire nations control and confront their leader

[@Todesnuss]

Kuvira didn't just use a mech with a magic nuke. The magic nuke is fired by a gun directly based on a nazi artillery piece. They built a massive railway cannon that looks about exactly like the spirit cannon. The fact that she straps it to a mech makes it a lot more practical but the aesthetic symbolism is broken by that point.

[@franklindistelzweig3728]

Let’s agree: Zahir was one of the best villains in the Avatar universe

[@jjkthebest]

It's worth noting that they did actually elect a non bender president after the whole equalist thing. Although I suppose there isn't much emphasis put on it and it isn't mentioned in the season itself. Overall you're right. Korra had so many cool ideas that weren't really explored well.

[@user-tv6lk4kh9e]

During every season Korra discovers a major weakness in her philisophy and after she defeats the badies, the governing system changes adopting points from the ideology of the villains. In season 1 the villains fight against the discrimination of nonbenders and after their defeat the government becomes more inclusive. In season 2 the villain was a religious theocrat and when he was defeated Korra realised that the world should be closer to the spirts. And at the end of every season Korra ends up emotionally and physically traumatised sometimes to the point where she just quits. You don't see this kind of stuff at kid shows. The legend of Korrah was nowhere near as good as Avatar, but the creators managed to make it great in its own way.

[@adeptdamage3669]

Nah it's very shallow.

[@rishabhanand4973]

15:03 haven't finished the video so maybe it comes up later, but you're thinking of the scene between korra and councilman tarrlok, after tarrlok decided to take a super heavy handed approach towards nonbenders in the wake of amon's attacks, kinda like how our government treated blm protesters in the wake of george floyd's murder, except less extreme, which is weird to think about. Like, tarrlok's actions were meant to portray an ultra authoritarian government official abusing his power, yet somehow his actions were kinda tame compared to what our real life government did.

[@thatguy779]

Sadly, I knew from the jump that Korra (the show) wasn’t going to do it for me especially as a follow up to such a flash in the pan lightning in a bottle once in a blue moon’s lifetime moment in animation history

[@Badartist888]

My take on Toph being police chief was that it was her family name and connection to the Avatar that did it. Like the Earth Kingdom was ceding territory and that was a condition her parents made happen. Having a little bit of a look at wikis..... it seems her personality trait of "enjoying telling people what to do" combined with her ability to tell if people are lying (which I assume she passed onto metal benders) might have been factors.

[@haraldlindohf4032]

The first like 6-7 minutes can be summarised as "Kung Fu and karate and stuff looks cooler than modern boxing" which I find pretty agreeable.

[@alvinanis3006]

Yes yes very. Especially season 2, that was a clusterfuck of badly executed ideas.

[@WinnGale]

Season 2 was definitely the worst season.

[@Carabas72]

Season two was pretty good. It's only bad when you compare it to other Avatar-verse seasons. It's still superior to most other shows.

[@crestren5996]

Concept was good, execution is debatable.

[@tiberiuscodius5828]

I've never listened to Vaush before, but Korra is one of my favorite shows and Sunshine is one of my favorite games - I'm here for this

[@chesteruwu]

2:30 I know I’m only two minutes in but I’ve gotta say that korra being a tuff and strong was supposed to be the point. Like,, to show how she’s so head strong and that it makes things difficult for her as a spiritual leader. I think the last season did a good job of showing her character growth

[@TheiTzCynical]

(I promise I will finish the video and will come back to correct my comment if I have to. Just wanted to put this out there, just don't have time at this moment.) At 1:18 That's not Oazis true power. We caught a glimpse of his true power when he managed to shoot a powerful bolt of lightning at Zuko only moments after the eclipse ended. And the fact he did with such speed and while underground with no access to sun light (which is there source of energy, hence why the solar eclipse removed their firebending) truly showed how much of a master he is. Even Azula, who is a prodigy, needed time to create lightning. The clip shown, that's his power multiplied by a substantial rate because of Sozens Comet. And the power increase affects ALL firebenders.

[@TheAkuumo]

I need more Vaush talking about politics in media

[@andrewyergy819]

Korra completely fucks over so much of the world building of ATLA. Specifically the spirit world. Korra being introduced bending three elements robs the series of the mastering the element arc, and replaces it with torture porn for korra

[@doodlemunchkin2222]

I think the hard-leaning on mma/boxing martial arts style bending is mostly just a Korra habit and not every single bender in the LOK verse. Like I’m pretty sure the other airbenders (tenzin, Jinora, Opal, etc) all use those spiral, elegent, flowy bending style airbending is known for. Lin Beifong and her sister too, pretty grounded earthbender moves for the most part. Even Korra’s cousins waterbend with flips and typical broad armed waterbender forms. I just think the main trio we get stuck with watching the most (Korra, Mako, Bolin) all lean more heavily into modern bending styles that come from sports-since they were all in pro-bending and spent a lot of their time learning how to bend for that specific situation. All the others from what I recall bend pretty normally and aren’t as punchy.

[@fakharyarkhan5848]

12:34 and Cabbage Man will lead the non bender revolution.

[@johngr1747]

The martial art that serves as the basis for bending in the competitions Mako and Bolin took part in is Sanda, which is Kung Fu but in the form of a modern combat sport applied in the ring. It looks like Kickboxing (which it kind of is, but with throws also) and the matches are done in raised platforms where you can force an opponent out of, which gives you points. That's not a coincedence since the bending in ATLA is based on different Chinese martial arts (Air on Bagua, water on Tai Chi, Fire on Bak Sil Lum and Earth on Hung Gar).

[@TheSakuraSunset]

So I think that the implication with the air nomads was that school age kids (5-16/18/however old is considered adult in ATLA) were brought to a temple and raised by the elder monks and nuns who lived in their segregated temples as teachers, considering we hardly saw any middle aged Airbenders in the temples, it was mostly children, teens, and elders. All the other air nomads probably wandered around nomadically, in groups or as individuals. They probably didn't settle in the temples until they were old or unless they wanted full mastery and enlightenment in air nomad ways, which required giving up on attachments like love. Speaking of which, the air nomads probably boinked while living that nomadic life and knew to bring their kids to a temple for learning once the kid was old enough. That or at one of the many festivals where Airbenders from all over would come to relax and chat, such as Yangchen's festival

[@hihkable]

Korra still has the original martial arts as well, the older characters, like tenzin and kya still uses the traditional martial arts, which makes sense that the younger generations are more modern. Also, korra will also use both boxing and traditional martial arts, which makes sense since she was trained by traditional benders and was also a pro bender

[@floofy_kins7904]

I like it better when voosh isn't afraid to rant, Hes got such a podcast voice

[@jartism]

I would love to see more of vaush talking about games/tv this was fun as hell

[@chernobylhobo7793]

The second season is so bad it genuinely feels like fanfiction with stuff like the Dark Avatar. It's really obvious they didn't go into the season with a plan so they threw everything at the wall from revealing the origin of the Avatar to having a giant spirit battle that results in the normal and spirit world merging. It was way too much for just the 2nd season of the story and so much of it was just unnecessary. We didn't need to know what the Avatar is. We didn't need all this dumb over the top shit. I'm honestly amazed that the show managed to bounce back after this because the 3rd season is actually amazing and way more grounded by comparison.

[@ParadoxBoxx]

that's because korra was made with only the first season in mind. the creators were caught off guard when they were greenlit for more seasons, though not that it entirely justifies crappy story telling

[@crestren5996]

@@ParadoxBoxx Pretty much this. LoK compared to ATLA had only one season in mind, it was only after season 2 that both 3 & 4 were greenlit together, hence why theres more continuation there than the previous seasons. ATLA on the other hand from the get go they had 3 seasons greenlit from the get go.

[@williammckenzie6865]

@@ParadoxBoxx if you read the legend of korra wiki article it details how even before production the staff knew they had more than the first season, the first season was 12 episodes and they had 26 already green-lit, thats just an excuse korra fans try to use to explain dumb writing with no basis in reality

[@ParadoxBoxx]

@@williammckenzie6865 if this the case then it makes me feel even better for hating korra