The Legend of Korra 2x13 "Darkness Falls" | First Time Reaction

[@Jeremy_theGent]

The scene in the Fog of Lost Souls is incredible; it's powerful stuff seeing Tenzin battling his own inner conflicts, and it's such a surprise seeing Zhao again, they even got Jason Isaacs to reprise the role.

[@JamailvanWestering]

It’s one of the main reasons why I like Tenzin more than Iroh. Iroh just like Aang just feel way too perfect for me. They always had advice ready for everyone regardless of the situation. Tenzin on the other hand is trying to hold on to a perception of his father he wanted to live up to but he couldn’t because unlike Aang he is not the Avatar

[@chrisbergsten1429]

@@JamailvanWestering Iroh had faults in TLA - he was a bit addicted to his creature comforts (tea, food, hot springs, etc) and occasionally his advice came out wrong. And of course he lost his son, so he had to carry that burden. But the story needed him to be enlightened and good, so that's what we got. The story didn't really have room for a complex, flawed Iroh or a long backstory explaining how he got to be so nearly-perfect. But if TLA didn't have time to flesh Iroh out, LoK has even less time because he's not even a recurring character, just a cameo. So you get the elevator speech version of Iroh, who's just wise and calm all the time and that's it. I think the characters in LoK are more complex and flawed in general. This makes them a little harder to like, because you have to take the bad with the good, but I also think it results in more mature storytelling than Aang's "git gud, defeat the dark lord, save the world, get the girl" story.

[@JamailvanWestering]

@@chrisbergsten1429 he was addicted because he was at peace with himself and outside of Lu Ten dying nothing really grandiose was happening for him. Iroh doesn’t really have any faults. Where as here pretty much all of them are written as their age. People that hate love triangle fail to realize that stuff like that happens, especially when you’re a teenager, I know because I saw one unfolding between 3 classmates. I don’t find them harder to like, I find them more relatable and interesting, to see how it changes over time.

[@JamailvanWestering]

@@chrisbergsten1429 some people usually don’t like having a mirror in front of their face with a reflection of their old self. Confrontations like that are often harder to deal with

[@TheFireMonkey]

When Raava and Wan joined, they were more powerful than they had been as two separate beings - so Vaatu thought if he did the same thing, it would give him greater power ... except he didn't intend to have a partnership. If you think about it, Raava and Vaatu have spirit powers, but they do NOT have bending that they can use - Raava was given bending by the Lion-Turtles to hold onto for Wan, but we never saw her bend and we never saw Vaatu bend - for them to have bending powers, they need a human and it seems that when they have a physical body to allow them to bend, they can amplify the bending to a great level than the human could do on their own. When Raava and Wan fought Vaatu, Vaatu was winning, until Raava and Wan joined and THEN they could beat Vaatu. So the two separated and working together were not as powerful as the two combined.

[@starkid910]

Case in point: Korra had Vaatu dead to rights until Unalaq caught her off guard and exhausted. A real "oh shit, the boss has a 2nd phase/health-bar" moment

[@JNDReacts]

Yeah, it’s clear that spirits can’t bend. That’s why humans can’t bend in the spirit world unless they go through a portal (or possibly get brought through on the back of a giant lion turtle).

[@androsram641]

The fact that Zhao was a main character in the first season of ATLA and aangs children couldnt even recognize him, yet Jinora was aware of Professor Zeis existence, just goes to show that after the moon spirit took Zhao away Aang and his friends made sure he wasnt even a footnote in history.

[@Jeremy_theGent]

He thought he was going down in history, but he's totally forgotten about.

[@LahDeeDah7]

I don't even think he was featured in the ember Island players 🤔

[@hazzenko_]

If I recall correctly, in Ember Island Players his part there was made by Zuko's actor, so yes, Zhao is totally forgotten.

[@Dinotk421]

@@LahDeeDah7 he is. there's a little Zhao doll in the hand of the avatar actor while they are rampaging over the ships in the giant spirit costume

[@FatLittleButterfly]

Zhao who? xD

[@JesseShadows37]

“If you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you’ll ever see.” This isn’t the best season by all means but some great stuff does happen we must admit. Avatar Wan, Jinora’s character development, more of Bumi, Tenzin with Aang, but most importantly Iroh to name a few. Season 3 though *chefs kiss*

[@JamailvanWestering]

I think season. 2 is better than people give it credit. I’m not a fan of the Wan episodes given that they retcon some stuff from TLA. It got some great development not just for Jinora but also Tenzin and Bolin.

[@sammylane21]

This episode is a wonderful little gift because we got to reconnect with Iroh, Zhao AND Aang. 🥺😄

[@Onaterdem]

...and then deconnect with Aang...

[@primal1233]

The fight between Korra and Vaatu/Unalaq is awesome!

[@johanluisrivas8016]

Korra just like other avatars in the past has such control over the avatar state that they just activate, get a boost and deactivate. And the other reason is because she is being careful because if she get killed in AS the cycle would finish. Just like when Aang got himself killed and guion helped him.

[@kelonpie]

All the past lives: Korra.. We don't feel so good..

[@johnsantos507]

Avengers Infinity War reference.

[@seriomarkj]

Now as a dad of two little girls...tenzin finding jinora in the fog hits different than the first time I saw this

[@maggie4028]

"You were trapped in the fog of lost souls, but I wasn't going to let you stay there." The symbolism of Tenzin finding himself and also helping his siblings and daughter out of the fog of lost souls makes me cry! And the scene where Korra's connection to her past lives is severed gives me chills and makes me tear up!

[@tylerhicks6132]

She goes in and out of the avatar state to protect the cycle from being broken. Basically, it’s pulling enough energy from Raava to do whatever the avatar wants while reducing risk of dying in the state. That’s why Aang was always so powerful popping into it continuously when emotional but also was dangerous. That’s why Azula was able to unalive him

[@mmxxiii9503]

2:45 Iron! ❤ 6:27 Surprise! 11:31 Aang! ❤️ 13:37 the exact moment we all felt the pain and the moment the fan community split in 2 😢

[@millieboon]

13:13 , best score out of the series / franchise, soooooo beautiful and powerful

[@tofu_golem]

I love that all three children inherited someone different from the goofy side of their father, uncle, & mom.

[@spazzout1k350]

it’s not korra fault imo since she didn’t know he and vaatu could do that

[@daurydavis3983]

Not to mention she's probably exhausted

[@af3897]

fr and im tired of people calling her an awful avatar as if she wanted to let that happen or as if she knew any way to prevent it

[@NANNOMEI]

fr

[@acrobaticswitches]

Bumi's internal struggle is hilarious and terrifying. If that is real that means every ridiculous story he tells is also mostly true. They could do an entire season of one-shots displaying various situations Bumi found himself in throughout his life.

[@daurydavis3983]

If you think about it, in the temple with the avatar statues there was one spot left after Aang which is most likely gonna be korra's spot for when her time comes so unless the spiral and the temple grows bigger with every 10 or so avatars, there needed to be a brand new cycle, korra's cycle instead of Wan's. Korra basically became the new first avatar.

[@arthemysia]

That's actually genius. I remember when I was young watching ATLA in that episode where Aang goes into the room of all former Avatars and wondering exactly over the fact that there was not a lot of space left. Didn't the monks account for the future Avatars? Or maybe they were so attuned to the spiritual ways that they knew an Harmonic Convergence was coming soon and it might be the time for the cycle to begin anew. It's also a brilliant parallel to our reality... The fans reacted so badly to Korra loosing her connection to the former Avatars, comparing how cool it was that Aang could always rely on them. On the same way a lot of the fan base could not deal with the fact that time passes, that LoK is not the same as ATLA, that things can be reborn and reinvented, that we should not fear change. This show is brilliant and full of meaningful and deep messages we can take to our personal lives ❤

[@jamesmeechan6983]

Korra is very good at airbendering without being in avatar state

[@JoeSnoe126]

Vaatu wants to fuse with a human because in his last fight he lost to a human spirit fusion

[@Bigsteelguy4]

Yes, but also Vaatu doesn't get locked up in the tree ever again. They can't lock up a human in there.

[@jamesrippy1161]

What frustrates and angers me the most about the second season of legend of Korra is that everything that took place in the season could’ve been prevented if it weren’t for Ryko not helping. I hate that character with a venomous passion

[@Onaterdem]

Reiko felt extremely annoying to me from the moment he appeared. But then, on a rewatch, I realized that he made perfect sense _at first._ Not wanting to send the United Forces army to an internal Water Tribe conflict is absolutely the right move. However, when Korra brings the news that Unalaq intends to destroy the world, he loses all credibility by saying no to helping. And after that point, his character is incredibly dumbed down, every single decision he makes is flimsy and nonsensical. And he's the elected leader of Republic City, lmao. Mirrors real life, I suppose.

[@Dinotk421]

​@@Onaterdem While not my favorite, I think every decision Reiko made makes sense when taking into consideration the political and military situation. He's acting in defense of the small nation of the Republic. A nation whose army was bested in s1 by a "small" political and civil rights movement, and things only get worse from there. I think the bigger problem is that Korra really ever goes to seek the republic's help. But we also see that the Republic is also the only one really willing to help. Consider if he sent his navy against the WATER nation and lost the battle. He'd have left his people in a more vulnerable state for the coming "end", which I don't think he imagined would be the actual and complete end. Really, Reiko is just an average political leader in extraordinary times.

[@Onaterdem]

@@Dinotk421 I get what you mean but... "Unalaq is about to destroy the world by unleashing an unstoppable spirit attack, if we don't stop him from reaching the spirit portal!" "No, my troops are staying here. They will try attacking _spirits_ with _regular weapons."_ ??????????????????????????????

[@silentassason]

​@@Onaterdemi mean he becomes a true politician and focuses on what will keep his rating up. Good for the story? No not at all. But does it make sense? Yeah it kinda does

[@Onaterdem]

@@silentassason I suppose when you look at it that way...

[@soidosg6090]

Bolin just had to build a rock wall around the portal there 3:51

[@Onaterdem]

I mean, yeah but the Avatar universe would have too many insta-win moves. It's a difficult magical system to work with. So the writers have to dumb down the characters sometimes...

[@hasicazulatv2078]

I do like how korra doesnt use the avatar state so much, she tries to resolve things without it rather than just resulting to avatar state right away.

[@hasicazulatv2078]

Also i just LOVE hearing ravaa talk at the same time as korra, gives me goosebumps everytime.

[@hasicazulatv2078]

And the fact korra cant do anything to help ravaa is the pain shes also feeling when she gets struck by unalaq and vatuu. Like gut punches constantly.

[@andrewwears7281]

I love you girls so much! You're the best!!! Also never stop guessing on what will happen next. I know that you catch shade for predictions but i absolutely love that part. I know how it ends, so I would love to know how you think it would

[@Stick-a-fork-in-Gmorks-tort]

In an I.P. full of rotten dads I have to give props to Tenzin and Tonraq for holding it down for the good ones in the Avatar universe. Iroh is already in the dad hall of fame.

[@Deined]

For context (and since I have time to kill 😄), there were several factors as to how Korra lost to the Dark Avatar: - Korra had pretty much gone through a gauntlet just getting to that battle. She was knocked out when dark spirits made Oogi crash, had a pretty tough fight with Vaatu, and was blindsided by Unalaq in the midst of said fight. Fatigue definitely played at least some part for Korra, while Unalaq came into the following battle fresh. - As Unalaq himself said, he was more spiritually intuned than Korra, and that may be part of why he could do things with Vaatu that Korra didn't with Raava (i.e., have Vaatu partially emerge from his body and yank Raava out of Korra). - The Dark Avatar initially had an environmental advantage fighting in an Arctic-like setting. There was plenty of ice/water around, the cold would inhibit firebending some, and waterbending is diverse enough to counter a lot of what the other styles could do. Note that Korra started faring better when she started strictly using waterbending. - Between Vaatu emerging from the Tree of Time and darkness already settling in across the world prior, Raava herself was pretty weak at that point (we can see how small she was when Vaatu yanked her out). That may be why Korra couldn't use the Avatar State to rouse herself whenever she got knocked for a loop. It's entirely likely that the Dark Avatar had a stronger Avatar State than Korra during their fight. Factor all of that in, and _any_ Avatar would've lost the first battle, even Aang.

[@x97k8]

korra use alot of her avatar state energy trying to close the portal and her uncle is more spiritual than her and has the spirit of choas within so yea and korra doesn't state in avatar state because she doesn't wanna get killed

[@spazzout1k350]

3:46 that’s how u use the avatar state, it’s lowkey just a booster

[@tonywalker1954]

People's reaction of seeing zhao is always hilarious to see 😂

[@Bigsteelguy4]

He wanted a physical body because he wouldn't have to be trapped in the tree of life ever again. They can't trap a human in there.

[@sydneyfalkenstein2032]

People give Korra so much hate for losing the connection to her past lives as if she wasnt the victim, like it hurts my heart. One of the saddest scenes in the whole series imo, still makes me cry

[@swampchill]

I mean, her arrogant impulsiveness and reckless actions without the thought of consequences was the cause of freeing Vatu and the destruction of past avatar spirits.

[@jairo.romani]

May I say Arianna is looking beautiful 😍

[@westonpierce952]

Why is maple serving so hard in this vid???

[@Stimulation334]

It a good thing tenzon found aang before he was destroyed.

[@xxshatteredmetalxx]

"Trash bag" that's a compliment. At least trash bags are useful for something. 🤣

[@ariannaw6858]

I should have added “That Leaks”

[@TrybzVibez]

I genuinely believe people are full on delusional when they say this season was bad, lol I don't understand literally any of the criticism towards it because it's all just the most brain-dead takes and lack of media literacy I have ever seen.

[@JoeSnoe126]

100%

[@chrisbergsten1429]

There were pacing problems, the relationship/love triangle stuff was awful, and too many characters had to hold stupid balls. And then the ending was controversial for multiple reasons (and no, I'm NOT going to argue that because I don't agree with all the criticisms, just saying they're out there). But there was a lot of good stuff too. Tenzin's family gets fleshed out a lot, we get Varrick, we get a bunch of lore (which some people also complain about, because they're doofuses) and a lot of the fights and art are pretty cool. In general LoK gets way too much undeserved hate. It's actually a pretty great show but it can't seem to escape TLA's shadow.

[@Jeremy_theGent]

It's not "bad," it's just weak in comparison to other seasons of both Airbender and Korra.

[@livvydraws-v7n]

I love and hate this episode tbh. On one hand, it was cool to see Iroh, Zhao, and Aang again. But on the other hand, watching Unalaq destroy the Avatar Cycle was painful.

[@ichtrolldigga]

they lost me at the point where the avatar cycle completely died

[@leandrodavidgarcia5711]

You two mocked the writers several times by saying that Unalak was stupid for not having a plan to survive the end of the world. When it turned out that he did have it, you again said that he was foolish to believe that Vaatu would accept the merger. Now that both things have happened, who are the fools?

[@Jalst03]

They literally acknowledged they were wrong when it was over but go off💀

[@leandrodavidgarcia5711]

@@Jalst03 They just admitted there was a plan. They never admitted that they were conceited and fools

[@caitlinbrooks1085]

I love your reactions. 😊

[@sammylane21]

Anyone else bothered by the fact that Tenzen cleared the fog but only took his family but left everyone (including Zhao) else to stay lost rather then rescue everyone and look like a serious boss coming out of the spirit portal?

[@mori1bund]

I guess the other people are there for a reason (like Zhao is punished for murdering the moon spirit) and while the spirits let Tenzin leave with his family, they wouldn't have allowed him to take them all away.

[@JoeSnoe126]

the fog spirit is the arbitrator of who comes and goes. I think Tenzin's self actualization impressed the fog spirit enough to let him leave with his family. That or something like Aang's avatar spirit used the last moments of its existence to clear the fog enough for an escape

[@DoomBowser64]

After 70 years Zhao's body is gone he can't save him, I'm sure the rest of the people are in a similar place

[@ernestorodriguez791]

👍🏾

[@animusnocturnus7131]

Well. Here it begins. Have fun with it, but the next episode is the one I despise the most out of this season.

[@BanditMasterD]

As an annga fan i love this show so you death threats send me you addresses

[@juwanrigby1924]

And this episode right here is why we hate this season/korra 🤦🏽‍♂️. Korra is a good show but she sucks as the avatar ngl.

[@johanluisrivas8016]

Shut. That's why you hate it. Some of us loved what happened because now each avatar would shine without past lives. Creators did this because of you Aang's stan. And she was great.

[@spazzout1k350]

how does she sucks?

[@juwanrigby1924]

@@johanluisrivas8016 I just don’t like the story of season two it changed the lore on avatar. Plus every single pass life is gone now we stuck with her 😂🤦🏽‍♂️

[@daurydavis3983]

Typical misogynist

[@johanluisrivas8016]

@@juwanrigby1924 better with her and her experience with the modern world and the most powerful villains than Aang who would recommend him not to fight or get himself killed with a lightning