TLoW: Book 3 - Well, I think Zaheer BLOWS (Part 5)

[@asepsisaficionado7376]

Zaheer would've made more sense if his motive was just "Korra's a bad avatar, I want her to reincarnate asap"

[@uhmm3996]

great idea actually

[@R0CKDRIG0]

He could have even tried to kill her as to search for and raise the next Avatar himself as a tool to help promote his ideas.

[@orbboom6119]

​@@R0CKDRIG0based🗿

[@Wizard_Lizard_]

🤣

[@saj-manthesonicfan1893]

Honestly yeah. That would have been far better

[@thebigidea9659]

>loves Airbenders >Wants to genocide the Airbenders. Perfect Villain. No contest.

[@joshuataylor7443]

WordGirl a PBS Kids show has way better Villains than Korra.

[@kingalastor936]

He k1lls people he loves. Guess Sozin loved his dragon and Roku. He must have really loved airbenders!

[@pepperpeterpiperpickled9805]

it would have been cool if he wanted to be the last airbender or something or he saw the airbenders as unworthy of airbending

[@HerohammerStudios]

​@@pepperpeterpiperpickled9805 would've been neat if he were some sort of Airbender supremacist. Maybe he saw the new airbenders as disgusting defacements of what airbenders should be. God, the wasted potential in this series hurts my soul

[@pepperpeterpiperpickled9805]

​@@HerohammerStudios that would have been cool. Maybe he sets up his own air-bender colony and kills anyone who he sees as a possible threat to their existence. Better yet, I would have had no air bender revival and maybe a firelord Ozai loyalist wants to wipe out the airbenders for good or something.

[@donutbevil9669]

Zaheer is basically a crazy homeless guy who waxes philosophical but is actually just a crazy homeless guy.

[@railfan_3371]

"The man who appears to be nothing more than a shit-smeared babbling vagrant could actually be the wisest man you'll ever meet. Or he could really be just a raving f%cking lunatic. Bring a knife, just in case." - Sam O'Nella

[@Poisonedblade]

Well, to be fair, most Philosophy Majors end up homeless.

[@woodwyrm]

Diogenes!

[@asepsisaficionado7376]

Honestly, I still prefer that to all the other Korra villains.

[@sedrie34]

@@woodwyrm Nah, don’t disrespect Diogenes like that. He was a sigma and actually knew what he was talking about.

[@alessandro348]

Aang in ALTA S3: "My responsibility as Avatar requires that I kill Ozai to bring balance to the world, but all life is sacred according to my personal spiritual beliefs (taught to me by the AIR NOMAD MONKS). How can I kill people, even tyrants, and still remain spiritually free?" Zaheer in TLOK S3: "In order to bring balance to the Earth, I must violently murder people who oppose my beliefs. Especially tyrants, but also democratically elected representatives. I can still break my Earthly tether because being a remorseless sociopath is the same thing as spiritual enlightenment." Wow, a retarded anarchist fundamentally misunderstanding a dead philosopher who would have despised him and everything he believes, this character is spot on!

[@AdamantLightLP]

Lol, true.

[@silent_stalker3687]

Who is the dead philosopher? I want to read

[@TheSmokingMustache]

​@@silent_stalker3687The Air Nomad monk he idolized

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

I've always taken an issue with the earthly tether part, because him being in a relationship with sparky sparky boom woman and her dying doesn't mean he no longer has any connection, it means that he had a strong connection that he couldn't let go of and her death shouldn't mean he instantly gets flight, because that connection shouldn't require her to physically be present, his love should still exist as a tether.

[@robertmcdougall1144]

Yet the sad part is that Zaheer did "achieve spiritual enlightenment" by being able to fly. Now imagine how Aang or Tenzin would have felt knowing that a sociopath was able to achieve this technique. Especially Tenzin considering how this airbender master is jealous of his own daughter's ability to spirit project. Not to mention the moral of the story it paints to children and teenagers about achieving spiritual enlightenment. TLoK sure knows how to reward its characters and paint top-notch messages for its viewers. lmao

[@abrahemsamander3967]

People say Ozai is a bad villain. Cause he isn’t expanded upon the same way Azula and others were, but that’s because he’s just a different kind of villain. He’s not supposed to be a fleshed out human being, he’s supposed to be a looming presence. And he filled out that role brilliantly.

[@cultreader9751]

Looming both literally and figuratively, the narrative explores the impact he had on his kids long before we ever see him.

[@mechajay3358]

Exactly!

[@applesandgrapesfordinner4626]

​@cultreader9751 Yeah and that's terrifying!

[@bartaz6124]

Evil tyrants in history also don't have a history explaining why they do things, Hitler had the same reasons to be evil and Ozai had the same.

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@bartaz6124 Hitler? Why him?

[@mariokarter13]

>Villain starts making points the hero has no adequate rebuttal for. Writers: Quick, make him kick a puppy or something!!

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

I’ve seen you for years. On lots of my subs. I have an unhealthy parasocial relationship with you. Respond or I kick ur puppy.

[@yaboibunsen363]

More like: >Writers make a world that doesn't make sense >Villain points out writing flaws >Writers pat themselves on the back

[@Regulator2000]

​@@yaboibunsen363 It's usually either what he said or what you said in writing.

[@ubelmensch]

>writers have gay sex while reading Wikipedia summaries of eastern religions >writers make a onedimensional sequel with ""deep"" themes and characters but now meant for ""adults""

[@VitaliyMilonov]

Literally the script of "Look who's back" movie.

[@AyubuKK]

The idea of Rava and Vatu was a big middle finger to the canon religious and philosophical ideas of Avatar the Last Airbender.

[@HExtraordinaire]

Fr, it made the avatar so lame

[@AdachiVsLife]

@@HExtraordinairebut it did show Korra to be the carpet muncher we all knew her to be.

[@JasonGodwin69]

Why does EVERY attempt to combine Western "God and Devil" religions with Eastern Religions ALWAYS FAIL?

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

When I see arguments in favor of Korra using “beginnings” as proof of its quality, I almost want to cry. It’s a complete knee cap of what made the thing good.

[@DickDickstein]

@@misanthropicservitorofmars2116 They let people who hate you have a say in it. 🥲

[@lillasagna5487]

It just never ends. E;R senpai will never be free from this show

[@Blizz3112]

He will be! Believe in him, as he believes in his Nerd!

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

I sure hope not! It’s basically a non sexual fetish of mine.

[@Stormfin]

It's his Homestuck.

[@fal1026]

There's just too much wrong to cover in a timely manner, especially when the managers of the platform he posts on are the biggest fans of Korra.

[@mmyr8ado.360]

You can't just give up on him, there's still the Netflix show coming up.

[@bloodrunsclear]

Ironically the only person modern writers seems to ever understand is the villain. The hero is just a blank slate for victim porn, but the baddie is where they REALLY see a hero because they have no concept of morality, just shades of power.

[@Ramsey276one]

Victim Porn You reminded me of the Lily Orchard video Killing Korra would have been NICER! Q_Q

[@bloodrunsclear]

@@Ramsey276one I'd rather have nothing to do with Lily thanks XD

[@Ramsey276one]

@@bloodrunsclear Broken Clock Right Twice Daily That is how I handled it

[@RoninCatholic]

All troon media is all about victim porn. Jerry's Gardevoir comic and MLP child rape fanfic being yet more examples.

[@bloodrunsclear]

@@RoninCatholic Yikes O_o

[@nickelakon5369]

You know, what happens when there's a bunch of leaderless, loosely associated groups? Someone among those groups will decide they want to control them, unite theirs, and conquer the rest And what happens after that?

[@thatjuicyboi8516]

I guess zaheer and his team will cut them down, and will keep doing that if people like that show up.

[@DickDickstein]

@@thatjuicyboi8516 yeah...they will have to resort to being cannibals just to get rid of all the bodies. Also, have some of them work in their camps growing marijuana for trade.

[@silverprimus321boi9]

​@@thatjuicyboi8516then they'd be the ones leading people around lol

[@iug5672]

​@@thatjuicyboi8516 So...they'll be doing what the Avatar already does... which is take out over-ambitious tyrants. But they will be at a major disadvantage since: 1- they can't reincarnate 2- they won't be backed by most cultures and governments since they are not a messiah but rather tyrants themselves 3 - they would have to be informed of and travel to every segregated human community this happens, in a world that will be infested with hostile spirit

[@seg162]

Book 4.

[@10Adragon]

The nerd legit has better character development that anyone in the whole show

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

He’s becoming more likable than me irl. He’s developed more as a person than I did after spending years watching this KZbin series about a sequel to a beloved children’s show.

[@jakeastside]

Would

[@hk-4738]

"My name is Monsoon - of the Sussy Impostors!"

[@Blu3-Fir3]

Him and E;R's bromance is one of the best things about these videos lol.

[@overeactive36]

@@misanthropicservitorofmars2116 me

[@hobobobo5244]

E;R the only man that’s able to hold a grudge on a cartoon for nearly a decade. Real shit I was 13 when I first watched your Korra video and now I’m 21

[@AdachiVsLife]

So you’re legal now. 😘😘😘

[@tahuluke6133]

@@AdachiVsLife b r u h

[@AdachiVsLife]

@@tahuluke6133 whaaaaat? I waited 8 years for this moment.

[@nhagan001]

Oh I can hold a mad grudge. Got one for Mobile Suit Gundam "Witch From Mercury". Not nearly as strong as my grudge for Korra, but similar level of disappointment. Since everyone keeps asking, I will pull my comment up here. The first 3 episodes of Witch of Mercury had a plot that broke immediately. An assassination attempt is made on a very important character, and the child characters prevent it with their antics despite not having any clue it is happening. They prevent the assassination by minutes in the show. None of them know it is happening, but their actions line up perfectly to prevent it. If one action had been removed, the assassination happens, and their lives go in completely different directions. One girl (Suletta) would eventually be kicked from the school for using an illegal machine. She needed the help of a girl in episode 2 to prevent her Gundam being scrapped. One girl (Minorine) would lose her freedom to a political marriage. One guy (Gruel) would gain massive power from said political marriage. It's a series of plot conveniences so important they become mandatory. Even the person wanting to perform the assassination is contradicting himself with his dialogue and actions. It is that important that he fails. He has to be the dumb villain. He cannot be allowed to succeed, despite having a perfect plan that was ruined because the writers wrote themselves into a corner. Had the man been allowed to succeed in the assassination, the entire show would have gone in a different direction. I had never seen a show write itself into a corner so quickly that it needed that number of plot conveniences to undo it.

[@CalsGirl97]

How he feels about Korra is how I feel about Teen Titans Go

[@charliegareginyan9584]

I can't wait for best leader Kuvira in 2024, peak Stalinium. Also the true villain of LoK is Asami >Took over her father's company in Book 1 after getting him jailed and later killed. >Financed both sides of the war in Book 2 and made a tight profit >The reconstruction of Republic City and all the modernized militaries of the world will make her billions >Constantly acting through proxies and essentially manipulating the Avatar >Never gets caught

[@AdamantLightLP]

Dude, making the "romance" of her and Korra into a manipulation for power actually makes way more sense.

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

And with her in a relationship with Korra she can always keep a close eye on her to prevent her from finding out anything. It's so smart that it could only be an accident on their part.

[@Admiral-General_Aladeen]

She (or rather her company) could have been a major force in the rise of the Earth Empire. She could have freed her father in secret to help expand the company. Damm if they recogniced that from S2 they could have made an actual impressive villian that was with us from the start. Maybe she was a anti bender racist all along or thought the Avatar was "outdated" or something.

[@aab1254]

I can't believe LoK writers were going to write Asami as an interesting individual with her being an Equalist spy at the beginning before abandoning it for the zero-dimensional speck that she is.

[@MakoProfessionalJerk]

@@aab1254 They could have made her the humanist side in the portal conflict, there's so many things they could have done with Asami

[@ShadyDoorags]

"You know how Zaheer was REALLY created." They wanted an anti-team avatar and they needed an airbender to complete the set. I'm pretty sure that's how the entire concept of "airbending returning" was created in the first place, all the current airbenders were good so they invented more.

[@echthros91]

Might have been interesting if the Red Lotus had some kind of spirit patron that interacts with Zaheer and gifts him airbending. They could have done the "bad guy gets airbending" thing without making it a global event. Would have made the fact that he gets the bending is the first place a lot less random and made his character more special since he'd be the only normal airbender outside of Tenzin's family.

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

​@@echthros91Especially since Unalaq was a member of their group, and had a significant connection with the spirits.

[@snakeslife-uroborodjinn790]

I'm not convinced. They could have done that in a million other ways. They could have invented a secret sect if airbenders in hiding. They could have made Zaheer come in contact with a lion turtle. They could have even gotten an established method of teaching airbending through the air bisons. Not one reason was given as to why everyone just gets airbending or how they're chosen.

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

@@echthros91maybe when Koh steals a face he stores the aspects of a person in his centipede database or some shit.

[@6thgraderfriends]

They didn't even need to bring airbenders back to have an airbending villain. It wouldn't be beyond the imagination to think that some airbenders wouldn't be happy living as an air nomad and would leave, get married to another national, and kids who are airbenders, etc. During the 100-year-war they'd go into hiding, but afterwards there'd be a few here and there sporadically around the world. Zaheer could have been one of these "descendent airbenders." Why not?

[@jjjmadness8306]

Okay, I am so sick of this show going on and on about "Humans & spirits need to work together." the problem is they don't want to work together. The Spirits outright hate humans, even after Korra decides to keep the Spirit bridge open so they can connect with humanity. They have shown nothing but disinterest or utter disgust. They want nothing to do with humans, and even when Korra begs them for help, they straight up tell her to get lost. It's almost like not everyone can get along so quickly.

[@VitaliyMilonov]

Try telling that to SJWs simping for terrorists.

[@hanburgundy4317]

Things like symbiosis and social interactions don't usually work themselves out instantly or even quickly - it takes time and complications for both sides to make compromises and learn to cohabitate. As the Avatar - the "bridge between the human and spirit worlds" - it's Korra's duty to take care of both spirits and humans and to work towards getting them to live together in peace. Just because some spirits are disdainful of humans or outright malevolent like Koh, and just because some humans are disdainful of spirits, doesn't mean that represents both sides as a whole. Even the ayeaye spirit learned to like or at least tolerate humans by the end of the Beginnings episodes.

[@sammydray5919]

​@@hanburgundy4317Did the avatar wan episodes teach you NOTHING about how disinterested most spirits are in living together with Humans??? Like Humanity had to resort to live on Lion Turtles to even survive because spirits were so damn hostile

[@hanburgundy4317]

@@sammydray5919 Their hatred mostly comes from how humans treat nature, but by the end of the episodes, even the ayeaye spirit who hated humans admits that humans aren't all bad. It's nuanced.

[@hg.c7987]

​@@hanburgundy4317He didn't say humans weren't all bad; just that Wan wasn't like the other humans. He considers Wan an exception. He doesn't respect or care for other humans.

[@austin9568AuraMasterDX]

So, since Zaheer was a normie turned Airbender who studied Monk-Fu...does that make him a Windaboo?

[@TheDisquietingNight]

*slow clap*

[@whisped8145]

Perfection.

[@Eltipoquevisteayer]

Basically, Zaheer the last airlarper

[@HolyknightVader999]

The obvious answer is YES.

[@superheriber27]

Airaboo

[@kinginfernoswielderoffire4952]

I have no idea how E;R just keeps getting sharper and sharper with the comedic timing, it's uncanny. I'm almost convinced he's a professional by day.

[@DLites151]

Usually comedians are professionals by night, and amateurs by day.

[@wajihbec1087]

His edits are better too! His content is top tier.

[@LowTierFallout]

This dude is funny as fuck and easily one of the best content creators on the site. A last bastion of humor.

[@maxalaintwo3578]

He literally just doesn’t stop with the references and the wordplay. Deadass the funniest creator I’ve ever seen

[@Buffalen]

A true shitposter in this dark age of shit posters

[@bayoubro728]

Zaheer: hits blunt "Dude, power should just like, not exist, man. We should get rid of power, and like, kill anyone who has power." Korra: "You'd have to use power to do that. Then afterward, only YOU would have power." Zaheer: "...Whaaat. Yo, that's crazy."

[@islandboy9381]

You still wrote a better villain here that's the crazy part.

[@Ssethtzeentach_enjoyer]

Zaheer Doolittle

[@bayoubro728]

Jamie, pull up a picture of the Earth Queen

[@Dan_Kanerva]

@@bayoubro728 don't even try bro, Joe Rogan is galaxy brain compare to Zaheer

[@alfalldoot6715]

Korra isn't smart enough to argue that point.

[@therealpat5168]

The chain of ideas was "What if there was an evil airbender?" and "What if he suffocated some important character by like drawing air out of their lungs?" and then everything else was scaffolding to reach that point. Kind of like how the directors of GOT just wanted to reach the Red Wedding.

[@TheTrueRandomGamer]

Martin planned that pretty early on so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

[@natesiress1057]

"Don't flatter yourself; you were never even a player." --Azula to a Zaheer attempting to assert himself as best villain.

[@HuffleRuff]

The writers have as much of a grasp of anarchism as they do about the concept of Yin and Yang... Zaheer's a social darwinist. That's it.

[@AdamantLightLP]

So... about as much of an understanding of anarchy as an actual anarchist.

[@Spartan322]

Zaheer's a poor social darwinist even because he doesn't seem to believe in eugenics and puts no stock in strength of the species, he's more of a glorified nihilist. (except a nihilist that reaches the logical conclusion would commit suicide or cease actively doing as much as possible)

[@LennartzHelma]

Who could guess the writers that made hotheads like Ozai and Azula master lightning also have their vehicle of philosophy, Iroh confuse the negative and positive charge of electrons in the atmosphere with Yin and Yang.

[@Spartan322]

@@LennartzHelma Just to point out, the original show didn't operate on the same naturalist principals we do nor that Korra did, (which actually makes Korra even more nonsense as a setting by the way) the whole Fire, Water, Earth, Air are Platonic elements and every "special power" was supposedly an extension of these Platonic element, in the original show it was functionally a spiritual concept that had physical consequences, a similar consequence follows with Yin and Yang, this is why bringing up electrons is kinda nonsense, it does not make sense in the original show because the natural show did not consider pure naturalism to exist.

[@LennartzHelma]

@Spartan322 And that interpretation doesn't matter now because those same writers who wrote ATLA wrote Korra. It still doesn't answer how Azula and Ozai could have the temper and emotions they do and competently manipulate lightning without compromising the lesson Iroh was teaching on it.

[@justincastillo9345]

19:25 “The Avatar is the human incarnation of the spirit of the planet.” Well said. Bryke’s retconning in the 2 part abomination that is Origins is an insult to the original series.

[@LennartzHelma]

No, that just means it was already broken as lore. If the planet has a spiritual representative, what sense does it make to have them be mortal? Why are they concerned at all with human affairs? Why aren't they constantly in conflict with all human societies attempting to dominate their environment? How does this supposed representative not have a natural in-born instinct on how to protect or heal the planet? Communicate or negotiate with that environment in any environment? Why do they need to train to use the elements at all?

[@LivInSpace5162]

Fr the rectonning confused me as a kid, like when they told Korra she needed to reconnect with her avatar spirit i was like "but YOU'RE her avatar spirit 🤨"

[@hueyfreeman6262]

​@@LivInSpace5162right when raava fused with Wan I was like wait isn't the avatar a spirit in human form? Not the jinchiriki of a magical tapeworm

[@HExtraordinaire]

I preferred it when the avatar was Jesus.

[@The1Ryu]

It wasn't a retcon, it was never a thing.

[@dumbino7745]

The character arc strawman nerd went through in these videos is so inspiring. I wanna be able to grow, see past my baieses and make friends with past enemies just like him one day

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

Start today, if you don’t, you’ll be worse than straw nerd. Trust me.

[@megabuster3940]

Nerd is the true chad

[@whisped8145]

Strawnerd is like Varryk, the only character in the show with an arc. Nobody is changing or learning much of anything, while Varryk (or however he's spelled) went from selfish villain-enabler to selfish support-cast to finally self-sacrificial hero who eventually realized that his secretary had a thing for him that he was simply blind to due to his other obsessions.

[@dorklymorkly3290]

Perfectly possible unless your opponent is an ashkenaz and you're not an ashkenaz, then actual true mutual cordial partnership is impossible, you WILL have to make moral concessions, and you WILL be made responsible for everyhing and you WILL be antagonised with a smile on his face.

[@bloodysimile4893]

Xiaolin showdown has a jumping bean with a Texans accent being embodiment of pure EVIL is more cutting, smart, and devious is more consistency well writen with goals then entire of legends of Korea characters.

[@14megasxlr]

Jesus christ, edit your post a bit m8. I like what you're saying, but that shit was hard to read.

[@RogueFox2185]

When you put this entire series into perspective the next Avatar is beyond screwed, it would take generations to undo the sheer amount of damage Korra has done to that world.

[@maxximusprime2970]

That'd be a cool angle for the next Avatar characterwise. Have him born and raised in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se where he's raised all polite and stiff given his noble upbringing. Then when he's told he's the Avatar he gets super duper excited to do his job only to realize how badly Korra screwed up and has to deal with a world that hates him due to his past life messing everything up rather than it being just the bad guys like LoK. Now he has to deal with a world wanting him gone and he has to slowly gain the world's trust in the Avatar as he travels the world, masters the elements, and solves various conflicts in the process. Obviously he won't gain back it entirely, but by the series' end the world won't hate him as much as they used to and he realizes this will be a lifelong effort, if not multiple lifetimes to fix.

[@blade8741]

​@@maxximusprime2970honestly, you are cooking with this comment

[@colonelkenpachi5009]

​@@maxximusprime2970 Who told you to stop cooking.

[@sammydray5919]

​@@maxximusprime2970Thats a phenomenal story idea. Problem is that relies on genuinely admitting that Korra as avatar was a failure overall and thats never gonna happen

[@alexandersmith4731]

​@@sammydray5919And I can't even imagine Korra admitting she made mistakes to the next avatar

[@jacobwiren8142]

If we're going to have spirit possession and mutations, Zaheer should have gotten his powers that way. He should have allowed himself to be possessed and had weird spirit powers including the ability to fly, as should his followers. That could have been used to explain all the strange shit they do. Instead, he's just an airbender, but better at it for no reason.

[@ThePreciseClimber]

Sounds like that Hundun guy from the Korra video game.

[@naamadossantossilva4736]

They could have even expanded the body horror part of spirit mutations.What a waste.

[@fireemblemaddict128]

I think this is entirely excuseable. You can easily believe that as an insurgent group leader he'd know martial arts. Why wouldn't he? He leads 3 other combat savvy benders. He was already obsessed with Airbender culture before gaining air bending, and this is shown when his very first line is like some Guru Lahima shit. As for why he knows how to airbend so easily, it's not handled the best, but he DOES already known Airbending culture and so he probably gained latent understanding/philosophy behind things from that. It's not a reach to just accept a person is naturally talented at something. His strength is as a guerilla soldier though, not as an airbending master. When he faces an actual master of air bending, he is soundly defeated and resorts to 4v1 to win.

[@jacobwiren8142]

@fireemblemaddict128 martial arts don't matter though, bending comes from the turtles and requires no hard work to use, remember?

[@WeAreInYourWall]

He’s Asian

[@jendoe9436]

A lot of people generally think freedom = no rules, no boundaries, no “you can’t do that”s, etc. But, a look into situations where no limits or rules are enforced, such as free-style parenting and no enforcement of common sense laws (such as for shoplifting, punching the elderly, or reckless driving), tends to show people actually suffer from worse outcomes and feel unstable in their life. That “freedom” isn’t there for the person to improve themselves, encourage the good in themselves and others, contribute something positive and meaningful, etc. It’s simply there for them to reach the excess of their own base desires and wants without putting guardrails in place to keep them from going off the edge. Just look at San Francisco where people have the “freedom” to shoot up drugs, scream and yell at others, and use the streets as their toilets. That’s the “freedom” from the ‘anything goes’ attitude, where apparently self control and the desire for one’s true good also falls to the wayside. I’m probably biased, but I find myself more and more agreeing with “freedom” as defined by the Catholic Church: “Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, out beatitude.” -CCC 1731 “The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to “the slavery of sin.” -CCC 1733 A summary I once heard is that encompasses the general point is that freedom is the ability to do what one ought to do. The freedom defined in the CCC puts those guardrails that what one does should be rooted and focused on what is actually true and good for a person and others at large. The definition also states that reason should be a part of the whole thing. Which makes since as a child’s reasoning for what is good tends to differ from a teen’s which differs from an adult’s, with various shades in between depending on one’s situation and environment. If one doesn’t properly educate themselves about something, they will often come up with poor, incorrect, or genuinely terrible ideas. An example I heard once is there was a playground kids frequented that was fenced off because it touched against a forest and various traffic. Someone in charge thought “This fence is impeding the kids’ freedom to go out and explore so they foster independence and curiosity. We need to take down this fence!” The fence came down and much to that person’s shock, the kids actually congregated CLOSER to the equipment or just stopped frequenting the playground as much. When asked, the common response was that the kids felt unsafe venturing too far out because there was nothing stopping anything outside from getting in where they played at and they worried they would wander too far and get hurt. Fence went back up and lo and behold, the kids all came back and started venturing further from the equipment again within the established boundaries. Zaheer’s problem in the way he talks about freedom is he thinks ANY sort of rule or limitation hinders people. That if everyone had equal say and power, there were no differences in culture and lifestyle, that if no one had any real desires then THAT’s when people will be “free” and “balanced.” But, that’s not freedom at all. That’s just someone imposing themselves on others who were not given any choice in the matter, but had their wills and ability to reason for themselves stripped from them. Of course people will abuse their power and hurt others, that’s just the natural inclinations of greed, pride, wrath, etc that come about from the innate desire to look after one’s own needs at the cost of others. Not everything will turn out fairly nor is ‘good’ always what people think it means. But, that’s why things like compassion, courage, fortitude, and empathy are highly praised and valued. Because it comes from people accessing a situation and reasoning that the best choice to make isn’t one that benefits only themselves at the superficial level, but that they have the ability and freewill to change the situation so that the greatest good can come from it. Also, Zaheer’s point about becoming one happy, united world could stand, if the ENTIRE CONCEPT OF BENDING AS A CULTURAL EXPRESSION WASN’T SO PROMINENT!!! Seriously, one of the issues with the Korra series is that they severely nuked the expressed uniqueness of each nation. People are naturally different from one another and bending was a noticeable display of that. Environment also plays a MAJOR factor in how people live their life. Why would an Earthbender want to be in the North or South Pole where there’s little earth to bend? And a Firebender would hate the cold temperatures and may not like more scorching heat in the Earth Kingdom. Waterbenders could tolerate the islands, but that also separates them from the North Pole where the moon spirit resides and the land affects the currents more. Seriously, is Zaheer really trying to say that the cultures these people built based on their unique bending styles and histories should be thrown away and they crowd into a place like Republic City that forgoes cultural identity for an overall industrial, unitarian aesthetic where bending becomes less about identity and more as a way to earn a living? Ugh, I really despise anarchists characters 😑

[@alfalldoot6715]

Wow, my priest said something similar when I last attended mass, but I didn't understand it too much at the time, but your examples made me figure it out. Seriously, props to you, man.

[@totustuus9782]

To quote my man JP2, “Freedom is the ability to do what you ought, not what you want”

[@jamespadgett8660]

You're beginning to understand why globalism is retarded.

[@maxximusprime2970]

Good lord, this was top notch stuff. Definitely the best analysis detailing how screwed Zaheer is as a villain. I've seen

[@Ramsey276one]

Thanks for this!

[@dragoncat3499]

bro characterizing Zaheer as a skinhead Buddhist with yellow fever had me in tears

[@ConsultingHumor]

I feel like people let the crazy overshadow the fact that Azula was a straight up prodigy and pioneer in fire bending technique - like even zuko was surprised when she survived the fall and she was out there doing moves no one else has been seen doing.

[@JayTohab]

Right she was "born lucky"

[@islandboy9381]

Still has psychological shortcomings, something she was born with it seems, tho her family situation being the worst doesn't help either.

[@fatcat5817]

As a female, sh** like this doesn't make me take female characters seriously. 🤦‍♀️ It's just pathetic, that they HAVE to be *special* and an a hole - the female hierarchy pyramid be like: 🙊 (unless they train, struggle, and WORK for their skills) To apparently outshine males. 🤣🤣🤣 I know of a way! Give girls guns. Guns are the great equalizer for a reason. Equal brute force between men and women. A pregnant lady saved her husband from getting killed by a robber, in Texas. 🤔 A thirteen year old boy shot a home invader because his mother didn't have it in her to shoot the guy herself. (In the past a male home invader could kill the kids and grape the females -sometimes knocking them up- like lion prides 💀)

[@DatAsianGuy]

@@JayTohab yeah, but she wasn't born perfect. one of the first scenes we have of her is practicing lightning. She was naturally skilled, but not perfect.

[@Leonard_Wolf_2056]

Being a prodigy and pioneer doesn't mean you don't have to work at all. She worked hard and expected perfection from every one including herself. She didn't conquer Ba sing se just by being a prodigy firebender.

[@planetbob6703]

The spirits were basically colonizers driving the native humans closer and closer to extinction! Even the entire ecosystem had been changed through invasive spirit plantlife. Even the first "Avatar" understood that closing the portals was better for the entire planet...

[@nagger8216]

lol I know right? It's like if the Mist actually happened and some people just went along with it because "that's the natural order of things." Motherfucker, no it isn't

[@maskofthedragon]

Everyone wants to have open borders in this show but they can't give a single reason why that is a good idea Just like in real life!

[@AdamantLightLP]

@maskofthedragon That's easy! It sounds like a good thing, and my favorite influencer says it is, so it is a good thing

[@jamespadgett8660]

@@maskofthedragon based

[@zygimantassilobritas6034]

Which is also a fucking insane choice considering the entirety of how spirits are shown to be mostly defenseless natural forces that require active protectors to not get fucked over in so many cases. Like you know the whole "killing the moon" thing or how despite being shown as this great force Hei Bai seemingly being actually unable to defend it's forest from the fire nation, just lashing out after. Then doing the whole world as seen in Wan episodes seems such a weird fucking take to make after ALL that.

[@tyrannozilla]

When the world needed him most, he returned. Welcome back, you sexy shadow.

[@gabbycotto4024]

Next anyone claims “borders and hierarchies are unnatural/a social construct”, remind them that pack animals mark their territory, will kill other members of their species not of their pack that enter their territory, and have definite leaders as well as division of labor.

[@invidatauro8922]

You’re asking commies and anarchists to be rational

[@Sousabird]

People actually think Zaheer's the best antagonist? His whole philosophy is basically a kid who listens to too much Rage Against the Machine.

[@strugglesnuggledslime7040]

I mean,its the same fandom that threw 10/10 at the series because random ending lesbians,so...

[@asepsisaficionado7376]

I don't care about the philosophy, I just thought he was the coolest. Zaheer's actually the most underpowered of Korra's main antagonists. Thankfully, the writers knew to at least make him lose to Tenzin 1v1.

[@screwgoogle4993]

You mean Rage For the Machine....

[@Z7Games]

Almost like the main audience of this shows are kids/teens which get enthralled by anything that sounds "deep" enough.

[@PaisiosOfGOAOA]

Personally my favorite is the dictator in part 4.

[@ShadyDoorags]

I absolutely detest defending this show in any capacity, but I think there's a misunderstanding with Korra not wanting to take down world leaders. I might need to rewatch the episode, but I feel like Zaheer is saying humans shouldn't have leaders period and Korra is saying getting rid of the concept of human leaders is not the answer, not that she doesn't believe in taking down corrupt or downright evil world leaders.

[@stanleyharno4534]

Yeah, their conflict of ideas makes sense, just Korra's response doesn't. Zaheer says "anarchy good" and then cherrypicks examples of bad leaders. Korra should have said something like "But leaders can also be virtuous and do great things, fire nation has been peaceful and prosperous for decades under firelord Zuko". Instead she says "I don't really agree with what they did but taking out world leaders isn't the answer", which is just nonsense.

[@danielanderson3878]

Man's trying to finish his Korra series before the Netflix adaptation, so he can tear that one down with a clear conscience

[@noravanguard]

My sister and I are actually rewatching Xiaolin Showdown recently and it still holds up as a good kids show

[@Hypnotically_Caucasian]

My mom always said that show would give me autism Jokes on her- I couldn't even talk until I was four

[@iug5672]

I think the latter seasons are a bit off. But first season is very solid

[@reikun86]

Gong Yi Tanpai!

[@PlanetZoidstar]

@@reikun86 Chronicles is an abomination.

[@RoninCatholic]

TFW the Two Ton Tunic actually reduces your weight while worn.

[@asdtgh8895]

33:10 I like how he separates Amon and Noatak as separate characters in the list with Amon at A-Tier and Noatak at F-Tier.

[@joshuataylor7443]

WordGirl a PBS Kids show has way better Villains than Korra.

[@asdtgh8895]

@@joshuataylor7443 Nah man, even DmC: Devil May Cry has better villains than Korra (except for Amon of course)

[@joshuataylor7443]

@@asdtgh8895 what wrong with word girls, I mean dmc do have personality too.

[@asdtgh8895]

@@joshuataylor7443 Nah, as in you don't need to bring up that masterpiece, fucking DmC Lilith and Succubus have more style and interesting concepts than Korra's villains

[@prickly10000]

Now now now E:R, Zaheer was right. Not because of his philosophy or anything, but the man wanted to kill Korra. Any man who can come to that conclusion is right in my book

[@marshallscot]

It's funny the Korra is adamantly against eliminating world leaders to achieve balance because of the canonically known Avatars eliminating world leaders seems to be their main way of solving problems.

[@JustAnArrogantAlien]

They made Zaheer an Airbender for diversity purposes. Okay, to be more specific: for _fantasy_ diversity purposes. “Well, we had a big bunch of evil Firebenders in the original series, and the first two Korra seasons had evil Waterbenders. Let’s do an evil Airbender THIS season, and we’ll round it out with an evil Earthbender in season four.” Complete representation!

[@thibaldus3]

Goes to show that in every setting (even imaginary), representation is always shit.

[@DisplayThisOkay]

To be fair to the writers, by all accounts being a airbender villain would be the only realistic threat to an avatar. Air is an invisible element and there's only been 2 and half major air benders in the last 100 years and only 5 total within the last decade. Nobody would realistically know how to fight a rogue airbender. That being said Zaheer just auto downloading mastery of airbending while being in prison for over a decade is ridiculous no matter how you try to justify it.

[@vexedlex8230]

It could have made perfect sense though. The Air Nomads were nomads, they travelled all the time. By the time Aang was 12, he'd been to Omashu, the Fire Nation and the Southern Water tribe at the very least. What happened to the Airbenders who were on a trip when the comet came? The ones yucking it up in Ba Sing Se or the Northern Water Tribe (which the Fire Nation never breached)? And seeing as we _know_ that they aren't all equally devoted to celibacy, what happened to their progeny? I can buy that Aang was the last known, confirmed, trained, certified, out Airbender, but there's gotta be Nomad blood filling some veins in the more defended areas of the world. And I can absolutely buy one of them resenting the all-powerful demigod who let their people be exterminated, forcing them to keep their powers and heritage hidden while the war was ongoing, and passing that hatred onto their own children. Evil Airbender, bing bang boom, easy peasy.

[@Touma134]

​@@DisplayThisOkayhe probably practiced the fundamental movement. With some tweaking you could have him in the background for an episode or two showing him get more ability to manipulate chi.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

I like that aang only took the life of a disgusting insect monster. The show portrayed it as a bad thing. Such good character development, and genuine moral guidance.

[@rawdasalmataman7908]

What are you talking about?

[@fatcat5817]

Tapeworms are disgusting and parasites like the cuckoo birds. 😂 Don't even get me started on mosquitoes and wasps. 🤣 Wait isn't extinction rebellion a thing? Didn't they tell us that breathing was killing the planet? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@familiayoutuber4769]

​@@rawdasalmataman7908I think he's referring to the wasp thing he obliterated while appa was kidnapped.

[@rawdasalmataman7908]

@@familiayoutuber4769 yeah I think so too

[@malikpierre-louis3343]

@@familiayoutuber4769 i don't even think it died.

[@LowTierFallout]

It’s just like a redditor to name themselves “silver-tongue” lmao

[@kristofgriffin384]

The funny thing I noticed is that Zaheer's voice actor also voiced Mad Stan from Batman Beyond, and they're both anarchists who destroy property and kill corrupt leaders. The sad part is that Stan had more valid points than Zaheer.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

"BLOW 'EM UP!"

[@dansmith1661]

Did they have to be corrupt?

[@thibaldus3]

Batman Beyond was great.

[@roramoya]

Ironic how Zaheer won the "Which villain do you understand the most?" poll when in fact most audiences don't understand his ideology

[@skotnica93]

Guy wants freedom and balance, even though freedom disturbs balance, as balance is artificial. The guy also wants disorder, because somehow that's order in his eyes. I swear, his lines were made to use abstract words just to create the illusion of being profound and deep.

[@mathphysicsnerd]

Can Korra just be a villain protagonist now? She makes a better asshole than any of the other assholes she bumps into

[@jamainegardner4193]

Antihero. You mean antihero.

[@rayclawicefire2503]

​@@jamainegardner4193no, no he doesn't

[@donutbevil9669]

She'd phenomenally be more likable if she was a villain protagonist.

[@DisplayThisOkay]

@@jamainegardner4193 Antiheros still do heroic things just for non heroic reasons. A villain protagonist is still just a villian.

[@MakoProfessionalJerk]

@@donutbevil9669 She'd be like Princess Mononoke except more obviously in the wrong

[@happynihilist2573]

The twins ting is a really good example of just how lazy, poorly planned and wasteful this show is

[@The1Ryu]

How so? Just showing that a character had one opinion and then two episodes later had a different doesn't show that the reason for the change was inadequate. Changes like that occurred in less than an episode and are praised as good writing.

[@banditkeith6479]

Not to mention the toxic relationship of siblings in this show. Especially Bolin and Mako's. How are they suppose to make me feel sympathetic towards the little brother when he's a twat, had never express how he cared for Mako for all he's done. And he's practically the same age, buff and they want me to believe Mako needs to watch over him?

[@aydenbonnet9630]

​@@The1RyuI think he's referring to the fact that the twins are made the rulers of the northern water tribe, but I could be wrong

[@Justified_Subversive]

​@@The1Ryuyou honestly think this show took the time and developed the twins opinions on why they would no longer care about their father after following his orders to the T basically all season? If you think E;R is lying go ahead and prove him wrong. Also yes it's incredibly ridiculous that these two terrorists are just allowed to rule like nothing ever happened. A trend in this series is having people commit war crimes then suddenly come to positions of power because "they're good now" without any actual development.

[@The1Ryu]

@@Justified_SubversiveOkay, if you watched the series and paid attention to Desna's lines and actions you will see that Desna's actually constantly unsure about whether or not his father is doing the right thing. His words to Korra are more about justifying his own continued support of his father despite knowing it's wrong, this is obvious from the pain and conflicted look on his face. He also states before the line that he will not miss his father that his father left him to die when he opened the northern gate. And they are left to rule because the Northern Water Tribe is a hereditary monarchy, so when their father was in charge they are expected to follow his orders like all subjects and they are the only ones who can take over for him when he's dead. These are things we call context and when you have good arguments you don't need to hide context to justify you opinions.

[@mechajay3358]

E;R has really mastered the art of brutally raking down and picking apart Korra's bad writing piece by piece with precise comedic timing.

[@The1Ryu]

I see this comment over and over again by endless fanboys and each time have to resist the urge to to say, "Please take his cock out of your mouth for five minutes."

[@Chickawah]

I like how he’s progressively become nicer and nicer to the nerd throughout this series. By book 4 the two of them are gonna be besties lol

[@phoenixdouchebag904]

They are gonna be a better couple than Korrasami

[@xel1673]

They should have made Zaheer's goal to just outright kill Korra. He'd be completely justified and probably have help. She abandoned everyone in the entire world (not just Republic City) to deal with all of the spirit world denizens by themselves. Rather than an imprisoned criminal, he could be an amazing warrior/assassin (perhaps from an organization of other impressive fighters/benders) who retired to live a quiet, honest life. Then his world is upended because of the arrival of the spirits. Perhaps tragically he lost loved ones (like his child or) to a spirit. So he becomes almost like John Wick-type character seeking vengeance. But rather than see the spirits as the source of his ire, he directs his animosity toward Korra. He travels around, trying to help those who have no way to defend themselves or escape. However, it is all too much. People feel abandoned by the Avatar, who created all their troubles and hasn't come to help at all. Seeing the conflict she has created (which was forced onto both sides) spurs Zaheer into targeting Korra makes complete sense. Maybe he even thought about giving her the benefit of the doubt and traveled to Republic City initially to appeal to her for help. Maybe see what she's actually doing to resolve the consequences of her actions. He's desperate and clinging to his last hope. Only to see her giving the bare minimum to fix things in Republic City (not even going anywhere else), then watch her shirk her duties completely to instead run around with the Air Nomads because people were mean to her and it stressed her out. At that moment Zaheer would finally see Korra for who she is and choose to become the force that will bring balance to the world. The only way he can is by getting rid of the source of the world's current problems: Korra. And in the same action bring about a new Avatar who can fix the world, since she won't. Then he could gather people (like from his organization, all skilled in battle and assassinations who share his goals) to aid him in killing Korra. Hell, it would be really interesting if even some spirit world creatures also joined them because they, too, are upset about being thrown back in with the humans against their will and have lost some of their own in the conflict. Or maybe they start their own posse, so Korra is trying to dodge dangers from more than one source. Maybe Korra could go through an arc where she finally realizes she's truly terrible and change from that epiphany, rather than whine people don't like her and not change the reason people don't like her like the series actually had. ... But since I know she'd never change, I'd want Zaheer and co. to succeed in offing her and locate the next incarnation in the Earth Kingdom. Since the White Lotus really dropped the ball in raising Korra. Or she was rotten from the beginning and no amount of tutelage and guidance could change her. I so wish that story happened. That route would have made a far more interesting villain and storyarc overall.

[@1BadAssArchAngelvs14]

The whole story of the legend of Korra is that every single villain Korra has faced was correct about the world being disconnected..Korra her self did not have an answer for every single conflict she was in ,so she took every single villain she ever faced advice about the state of the modern day world and rolled with their ideas. Every single villain in the Legend of korra was correct. its the major reason why korra took the time to reflect and take the advice of the major villains since korra has no answers her self the whole Legend of Korra story is built like this from start to finish.

[@donutbevil9669]

I don't exactly have a lot of love for Korra (to be honest, I fucking hate her), but Zaheer is a kind of villain that you just hate for acting like he has the answer to everything, when really, he reminds me too much of brainwashed idiots in cults, because that's what the Red Lotus is deep down.

[@islandboy9381]

That should have been the angle for this character, but instead we're supposed to act like he has some valid points and is worth listening to because ''themes''

[@joshuataylor7443]

Word Girl a PBS Kids show has way better Villains than Korra.

[@boefwellington562]

"Or if Katara lost her eggs." It's strange to think 90% of them are already gone.

[@Hypnotically_Caucasian]

Just acquire more chickens bro

[@rideorhitchhike3347]

Empty carton.

[@seg162]

@@rideorhitchhike3347 she already had three kids, what more do you want from her

[@Ssethtzeentach_enjoyer]

6 more.

[@dansmith1661]

The rest, as God intended.@@seg162

[@alabaster5302]

4:09 forgot all the kidnappings there. Truly the "summer of love" as the mayor put it.

[@alabaster5302]

@E;R 13:26 Holy shit, you fucking savage!😂😂😂

[@albertrico5468]

Every anarchist is a baffled dictator. -Benito Mussolini, an Airbender

[@ahmadsuleman9045]

So that's why he was bald

[@Th3SmartAlec]

I just realized Avatar Wan is called Wan because it sounds like 'one.' Kill me.

[@donutbevil9669]

Genius level writing right there. 😐

[@CPU9incarnate]

The idea of Zaheer wanting to destroy the avatar spirit because he sees it as a tyrant over humanity is not a terrible idea in concept, he just needed an actual reason to think that way. The solution could have been a reveal that the avatar routinely destroys human civilization to prevent them from technologically advancing to the point where the earth becomes permanently damaged. We could even get a reveal that aang died as young as he was because he was trying to prevent the avatar spirit from locking him into the avatar state permanently. Rather than being the first avatar, Wan could have just been AN avatar that existed shortly after one of these apocalypses. This would not only make Zaheer's ideology much more coherent, but also set up a much more compelling book 4 than a random earth bender civil war: have the avatar spirit that was removed from Korra during her fight with Vaatu possess someone else, putting the world in immediate peril. Given that an uncapped avatar spirit would be far stronger than her, this would also force Korra to gather allies to try to stop it, and when that would obviously fail, convince the avatar oversoul to give humanity a chance to try to continue development in harmony with the world, rather than as its dominator.

[@bigmoe9856]

Interesting.

[@FelipeJaquez]

You put more effort into the shows lore than the creators did.

[@davidmitchell3247]

Watch out. The1Ryu is lurking about.

[@iug5672]

Or could've simply made him point out how Korra opened a portal which brought back the spirits who are a threat to humanity. But no, instead they made him be in favor of bringing the spirits back because...??? I think they wanted to impress the audience of his competence by revealing that "actually he planned for all of this all along" but it just comes off as forced

[@CPU9incarnate]

@@iug5672 The issue with just being upset over korra opening the portals is that destroying the avatar spirit would mean that nobody could ever close them again. But then his plan could have just been to kill her and thus accelerate the birth of a new avatar rather than trying to destroy the avatar cycle outright.

[@rustyshackleford1508]

the best part about marketable plushies is that nobody can tell you not to cut a hole in the bottom

[@peanutgallery4]

What do you mean by that 🤔

[@bestbeekeeper8931]

​@@peanutgallery4 he means he's gonna fuck it. hope this helps!

[@odnamsrazor2364]

can it really be molestation if they never tell you, "No"?

[@slicedtopieces]

obligatory "bruh"

[@nhagan001]

@@bestbeekeeper8931 butt wait! There's more!

[@ColCoal]

I swear it is like not only did the team not watch the original, but after each arc they forget what happened.

[@Dudebox64]

E;R's 'youtube poop' style editing is honestly endearing

[@VitaliyMilonov]

the last old school shitposter

[@random_idiot]

@@VitaliyMilonov SsethTzeentach

[@thegreatscribbles960]

honestly my problems with him definitely stem with the people that are like "THE TIMES THE VILLAINS WERE RIGHT! 🤓" and its just always mass genocide.

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

Ikr, how many Earth kingdom citizens were harmed/killed because he plunged their state into anarchy? And they simply don't care.

[@Touma134]

Madara Uchiha comes to mind. The series one of the big themes is entrusting and fostering your ideals and goals to the next generation through genuine understanding and love for those you entrust. Hashiramas will lived through the ages while Madara could not trust anyone since he was pretty cynical about humanity. The ones he loved were already dead and those that lived he held zero love for viewing them as squabbling and petty. "Madara was right, all the Hokage were Senju (sans Sarutobi)" which makes sense if you pay attention to the story. Even in the end the infinite tsukuyomi was a fake as well since they all become white Zetsu and who they once were get replaced with Kaguya puppets. Madara got a war started over Jack shit effectively and gave up as soon as hardship hit him when the village voted for Hashirama. I think people put their real world cynicism into stories where they don't consider the world these characters exists in. I'm pretty cynical about humanity in reality but I like the hopeful world of Naruto where there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

[@ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣΛΑΧΑΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ]

On what you said about Zaheer's plot convenient air bending. Imagine how much better the Red Lotus would be if he was a non bender. Three incredibly strong benders with rare unique abilities, and their non bending leader is still the most dangerous due to his cunning mind. Sort of an anti Sokka.

[@mark-y4s5m]

E;R's love of Amon is something we all share. Amon's such a funny thing in terms of character design because his design actually screams heroism if you look into his cultural influences: when you take into account Amon's theme and that of the Equalists, the comparisons to traditional Japanese Kabuki theatre are apparent. In Kabuki, red makeup was used specifically to denote a heroic character while blue was reserved for villains. Following this, Amon's circle on his mask and that of his followers would evoke the Red Sun of Japan, something that symbolizes courage, celebration, luck, and power. The red sun specifically being on the forehead would evoke Chinese theatre masks, representing spiritual connection and initiation into Buddhist monkhood. While a mask like Amon's would evoke a suspicious character in Chinese theatre given the white base, villainy would only apply to Amon's concept art where his mask's lines were green, not red. The conflict between the Task Force and the Equalists draws parallels between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communists as well. Then there's the comparisons made between Amon and V for Vendetta that countless people have done already: while we don't know exactly if Bryke took inspiration from V, Amon's design is still evocative of the overall archetype seen in V, a left-wing radical fighting against an oppressive society, something that's much more apparent given that V was inspired by Anarky and both were inspired by Batman's earliest comics where he was closer to his inspiration The Shadow, the character's imagery of a shadowy cloaked figure with a wide hat evoking real-life depictions of anarchists found in media and cartoons. Bryke, the neolibs that they are, would of course take the visual archetype of a radical left-wing heroic anarchist and then proceed to make it suit a character who's more or less a bigoted populist authoritarian villain who's actually a liar and a hypocrite. Which is kind of ironic.

[@killianmiller6107]

I saw a video by Pilgrim’s Pass that finds an ironic connection between Amon’s movement and the many communist movements that sought to uplift the masses against the higher ups in the hierarchy. The irony being that the leaders almost always are higher ups themselves. So when Amon is revealed to be a bender, it’s kind of smart, as it reflects the real life hypocrisy of communist leaders who enflame the passions of lower class folk for their own pursuit of power.

[@Mark-Zuccubus]

Glad to see you back around, E:R. Time to dive back into this ruinous hellscape of fiction and mary-sueisms!

[@mcblaggart8565]

"You've had to deal with a moronic president." Yeah, haven't we all. More demented really, but that's sniffing hairs.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

“I don’t see the difference” -giga chad kiyoshi

[@juarezamorim]

E;R really appealing to his asian audience with this schedule.

[@slicedtopieces]

Nah nah nah yeah nah. It's the Aussies (and maybe a Kiwi or two).

[@MordinSTG]

I'm from Syberia and i like it.

[@NucleaRaptor]

@@MordinSTG How's the mammoths?

[@Ididitlikethis2079]

Re-watching E;R’s legend of Korra video series has been a breeze. E;R’s edgy sense of humor has aged like fine wine.

[@MM-he2iq]

Truly an internet gem! And I mean the good kind.

[@rhouck8407]

Zuko is definitely the best antagonist. I have no doubt in my mind that if the story had one change, that if it weren’t for Iroh, Zuko would have succeeded in his mission.

[@rhouck8407]

I take it back. Korra is the best antagonist

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@rhouck8407good correction, and totally true.

[@gorgoneuryale8748]

Zuko is the best antagonist, but if it wasn't for Iroh, Zuko would never succeed. That was the point of him learning Lightning Redirection, there was no way for Zuko to overcome Azula without Iroh's wisdom. He still couldn't do it anyways because he needed Katara to beat a crazy Azula but regardless, he was completely outmatched both in terms of bending and scheming.

[@PlanetZoidstar]

@@gorgoneuryale8748 Plus Iroh points out that at 1 point Zuko managed to capture Aang, but he had no way to actually extract him. His mission almost got him killed due to his hubris and lack of forethought.

[@bartaz6124]

​@@gorgoneuryale8748nah he was fine until Azula attacked Katara

[@melodymakesart]

Even when he's not on screen, President Raiko can't seem to catch a break.

[@jacobmatthews7524]

i cant believe they actually put that six-sided star on the bag in the Chu's city....

[@YAH2121]

With Chus you lose

[@tehrulefoo]

He came back when the world needed him most

[@MadInkAnimating]

ER is such an underrated master of the video essay. He gets his point across so effeciently, all while delivering jokes almost too clever to process

[@avizvit9932]

I am surprised they didn't made Zaheer's goal to be a world where every human can bend everything. Writers already gave themselves the plot device of some people getting these powers out of nowhere, why not have the character obsessed with individuality want to spread the gift to everyone ?

[@elreydelbrocoli]

They kinda did that with the mask guy, they used technology to give normal people a way to btfo benders.

[@Fredfredbug4]

You’re the only mid 2010s youtuber who managed to get more funny. Keep it up.

[@WallNutBreaker524]

12:24 There's no such thing as a "Free Community", In every community you must pay a price to be apart of like Taxes or Labor or obeying the rules and regulations etc.

[@AdamantLightLP]

Yeah, liberty and freedom are opposites. The best communities are a balance between both.

[@VitaliyMilonov]

I thought "free" was always a matter of context. For example, the American revolution. You can only be "free" from something or someone.

[@Ramsey276one]

Everything Has A Price You just ignore the cost some times...

[@conner4547]

I once played a porn game that took place after Korra was put in a wheelchair. It did a better job making her a likeable character than professional writers.

[@MordinSTG]

Four Elements Trainer?

[@conner4547]

@@MordinSTG that's the one

[@thibaldus3]

@@conner4547 It was still about complimenting her endlessly. I had to drop it. I much preferred the Azula romance.

[@conner4547]

@@thibaldus3 Yea, book 2 was GOATed. It is known. Book 3 ain't no slouch either.

[@Jose_Doe]

Damn

[@zekromfan1]

I love the subtle character arc Straw Nerd has gone on through these videos. He went from the average Reddit “nerd” to being the voice of reason asking genuinely logical questions trying to find some semblance of logical writing in whatever E;R covers. It wasn’t until this episode that he snapped to this extent, so much so that now he’s gone even further than E;R was willing to go. You would have had to watch almost all of E;R’s videos, even including some of the deleted ones, to see his growth overtime. At first he was an annoyance that you knew was based in some level of reality, now he’s essentially the voice of the audience trying to find something of value in the trash being covered. Bravo E;R, it takes a good writer to do such a thing in as subtle a way as you’ve done. I honestly think the name of “Straw Nerd” doesn’t represent what he is now though. I hope one day we will be able to find out what the ; in “E Semicolon R” stands for since that’s a mystery that’s been set up since the beginning but hasn’t been further expanded on. One day we shall learn the truth, one day… Once he comes back with cigarettes and milk… Regardless this was a fantastic break down of the worst season Korra, it’s not done yet, but you’ve done really well. Don’t get me wrong the final season is abhorrent, but it’s problems for the most part start here. So everything you can pin on it for being bad, should really be done to this season instead. It’s a TLJ and TRoS situation, TRoS is bad, but TLJ is the reason why it even exists so all of its problems start there. Then again TFA set up TLJ so… BUY THE DOLL… I shall do your bidding oh great one…

[@Its_a_Phaze]

The friendship between E:R and nerd is so beautiful…

[@megamonster1234]

I hate that they explain away how Zaheer is so OP just because he's been an airbender enthusiast his whole life even though he at no point ever thought he would actually get airbending powers. I know that they tried to tone it back by having him lose to an actual airbending master in Tenzin, but it's still absurd how OP he was. He even learned how to fly which airbending masters haven't done in centuries. I know some people try to say that this just shows how OP airbenders were but were held back by their peaceful nature and it's why the Fire Nation went after them first. One non-master airbender beating out masters of every other element in practically every fight is still messing with the power scaling. Another rebuttal was that the other masters were simply not used to dealing with an airbender for so long since it was practically just Tenzin and Aang who were the remaining masters at that point. I feel like that explanation is a cop-out that really puts to shame the other elements. Airbending should have obvious weaknesses like other elements, including an elemental weakness. I think air is traditionally weak to Earth but I don't think they ever really explored.

[@tljscrewjob6397]

I’ll never get over the ‘By 2030, you’ll own nothing and like it’ thing. Also, since I haven’t watched Book 3 since it aired, who the heck is ‘Guru Lahigma’ or however it’s spelled and why does he matter?!

[@AdamantLightLP]

Yeah, it's mind-boggling that that's a thing.

[@islandboy9381]

What do they really mean by that?

[@morganlepear]

I haven’t watched LoK since it ended, but iirc Guru Laghima or however it’s spelled was an ancient air bender philosopher guy.. I assume Bryke intended for him to be the ATLA universe’s version of Buddha. He’s only important cause his teachings are what inspired Zaheer’s philosophy… somehow

[@tljscrewjob6397]

@@morganlepear ah. Thanks for the info. I also haven’t watched LoK since it aired. In fact, I haven’t seen past Book 3 because it was ‘too little, too late’ in terms of Korra’s development. What little they tried to do with it, anyway.

[@dansmith1661]

I thought that was a roundabout ligma joke.

[@maskofthedragon]

If the Red Lotus had actually kidnapped her as a child, they would have blown their own brains out, having to deal with her for years on end

[@tamas9554]

As far as I see people don't acknowledge the original problem with Zaheer enough, that all the danger he poses is the cause of terrible writing mistakes. Why should I acknowledge him as a credible and believable villain, when he just got these powers out of nowhere? He wouldn't have been able to pose any threat if this "deus ex machina" didn't happen to him, which is basically the foundation of him as a villain in this season. Even a decent story built on a terrible foundation would end up being mediocre as a result, we have to look at the whole picture

[@GeassEnabler]

Mfs online really say that Zaheer is the best villain in Avatar. People are so quickly tricked and trapped by a dude that waxes philosophically. No wonder cults are a thing

[@ItachiUchiha-ns1il]

It’s ridiculous how quickly he mastered air bending. It was a joke.

[@springheeljak145]

I can't believe E;R still hasn't even gotten into Book 4 and Kuvira

[@thibaldus3]

Lesbian vs Lesbian. Whoever wins, we all lose.

[@OsirisMawn]

Loooot of BS before to go through before he gets there

[@misao6397]

As always, this is an insta-watch and drop everything else. Got to catch it before KZbin takes it down for being too entertaining in modern day.

[@bagggers9796]

I tried so hard to convince my brother that Zaheer sucked ass. He was like "nuh uh, he shaved his head like aang, muh muh themes bhlar brrrrr". He's gone now.

[@BlueBedouin]

Your bro's right

[@The_Mister_E]

RIP your brother

[@tanner201x8]

@@BlueBedouin Stupid

[@dansmith1661]

Sudden and mysterious.

[@anonymousyoutuber1405]

Did you....did you kill him?

[@nagger8216]

Thanks for bringing up that the Avatar spirit is just the spirit of the planet itself trying to maintain balance. The sooner people remember that and forget about the magic talking carpet bullshit, the better.

[@Eat_shit--die_mad]

If the new Netflix series is actually good they probably will

[@The1Ryu]

Remember something that's not canon and never was? Do you just go around telling people not to watch shows and direct them to your favorite fanfictions instead?

[@jhonmaverick9963]

@@The1Ryu If the shows are dogshit like Korra? Then he's doing them a huge favor.

[@The1Ryu]

@@jhonmaverick9963 Even E;R says his videos are just his opinion, man. If Korra is the worst show you've ever seen, then you have been extremely privileged in you viewing opportunities.

[@hueyfreeman6262]

​@@The1Ryuyour clearly not an og

[@asterisk4424]

I have never watched the last part of TLoK but everytime I see clips of the giant robots in this video I can't take it seriously enough to try to watch it.

[@normalguycap]

I love the breakdown and refutation of bad arguments in a critical way. Loved the part about how "people gotta fear the avatar because it might go rogue." And you pointed out its the spirit of the planet, embodied with half of all peace and love, and going rogue has never happened in millenias-not once, so it's an unfounded irrational fear. So by the original, by the new, and by basic logic you destroyed it. Simply beautiful. And memes always on point. A trendsetter. Hadn't seen so many of those before actually.

[@austinbaker8042]

HOLY SHIT Kyoshi is SO BASED. Not taking the easy road (that Korra absolutely would've taken) saying that the general death is her responsibility not his own stubborness is so mature and BASED.

[@cedricwine]

It would made more sense if zaheer is revealed to be the next dark avatar. That would explained his stupidly strong air bending.

[@dustyfilmsgaming1983]

Just wait until Zaheer learns about wolf packs. Or lion prides. Or humans. We’re natural, we have hierarchies.

[@SaanWukong]

High Key Zaheer learning how to fly mere seconds after seeing his girl be MURDERED BRUTALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM is almost as bad as Korra learning Air Bending when Mako was about to get his bending taken away after she already had her bending taken. Ik spirituality and human emotions are pretty difficult to right properly all the time but guys come on. Zaheer should’ve been going on a rampage or at least have the Air Bubble around him like when Aang saw his master's corpse.

[@Segadrome]

Republic City has fallen. Billions must buy the doll.

[@planetbob6703]

It's nice to see E;R and Strawnerd getting along. *Even Strawnerd has to agree on this one!*

[@aajackson35]

E;R mentioning Xiaolin Showdown in a good way* I see you're a man of culture as well.

[@goukeban6197]

It's always good to be reminded of how much Wan's story arc was a revolting piece of work.

[@maskofthedragon]

34:15 isn't in insane that after defeating the Fire Nation to rid the Earth Kingdom of the dreaded steam engine, Aang would found a city that is just miles of concreate and would create massive amounts of pollution that was completely unheard in the Avatar world?

[@ahmadsuleman9045]

I think it makes sense. A roothless cosmopolitan like Aang would see no problem with founding a mongrelized, soulless city devoid of any higher values

[@Ididitlikethis2079]

E;R is like the Avatar, when the internet needed him most he returned.

[@shrumgus5608]

Internet doesn’t need another Nazi😂

[@RoronoaZoro-ur6hr]

@@shrumgus5608, E;R isn’t a NAZI; he just likes making edgy jokes in his videos mocking snowflakes ❄️ like yourself.

[@Ididitlikethis2079]

@@shrumgus5608 E;R is not a Nazi.

[@nobody-special000]

@@Ididitlikethis2079 A "nazi" in their understanding is not literal, but a European fascist or someone that has those sympathies and is more likely to fall on that side of the conflict, and they describe Fascism as "Capitalism in decay." They call libertarians "nazis." Essentially, if you are not with them or subservient to them, you are against them. The 'gem stuff' alone shows that he's a dissident towards the creators & funders of Communism.