Welcome back for this week’s Korra review! This episode brings us some major revelations and callbacks to our original Team Avatar. Let’s get into it!
1. The forest over the trees.
The last few episodes of this season all blend together in my mind. In part it’s because of the general bleakness of the episode, and in part it’s because the episodes are more concerned with the larger season-long storyline than the episodic plots. Each episode does have specific beats that they hit, but those are less important than the episode’s place in the overall season arc.
And I don’t think that’s a bad thing! It’s something this show does very well, and I think it’s something you see a lot more on streaming services today than eight years ago when this episode first aired. If nothing else, I think this makes the show incredibly easy to binge — which, in turn, is how I’ve mostly watched these episodes in the past, and explains why they blend together in my head!
2. Greatest hits!
This episode’s most memorable bits see Korra meditate about her past life, in which a 40-year-old Aang and friends deal with a case! At times this plays as a sort of “greatest hits,” with Toph calling Aang “Twinkle Toes,” and Sokka referencing Combustion Man, and Aang taking away Yakone’s bending. At other times, it plays like a reunion special where the characters seem like they’re stepping right back into their old roles for a new story (even if the details of the story are a bit hazy).
Some interesting technical details really make these scenes stand out. For one, the voice actors all retain elements of the original voice actors while bringing their own adult spin on things. There’s still a playfulness to Toph’s voice, and Aang’s voice has a familiar warm, welcoming breathiness. The costume choices were interesting, too: Toph is wearing the same Metalbending Police uniform that her daughter now dons, just as Aang wears the same Air Nomad robe as his son. These are also the same clothes we’ve seen on Aang and Toph in the statues around Republic City, which in turn gives life to the statues.
This was a huge moment for the fans and creators alike, and a ton of care was taken to represent the characters as well as possible.
3. The (underwhelming) breakout.
Over in the B-plot (or was this the A-plot?), Lin breaks Mako, Asami, and Bolin out of jail so they can find Korra and the Metalbending Police. At first I laughed at how easily Lin broke the trio out. She just breaks right in, takes them, and leaves without any difficulties. The later scene in the Equalists’ underground lair is similarly underwhelming, only picking up during a brief chase sequence at the end. After all the drama last episode about these characters being taken prisoner, it’s pretty underwhelming to have them walk right out in the next episode.
I suppose budget restrictions prevented things from being exciting at every turn. It is a bit of a shame, though, since the episode’s other story wasn’t particularly action-packed, and this setup was ripe for some great action.
4. You get bloodbent! And you get bloodbent! Everybody now!
The major aspect connecting the flashbacks to the present? Bloodbending. The flashbacks deal with Aang and crew’s sentencing of a man named Yakone, who can mysteriously bloodbend without a full moon, and who almost kills everybody with his powers. I love how the flashbacks not only connect to the events in Korra, but also further develop a skill introduced in the original show. That positions these scenes as a true bridge between the two shows.
In the present, there’s bloodbending all around. The episode starts with Korra being bent into a prison, the second act ends with Tarrlok being outed as a bloodbender and knocking out the entire main cast using bloodbending, and then in the final act, we learn that he’s Yakone’s son! Honestly, I think Tarrlok’s plan was a little weak and unclear, but there are so many other twists and turns that it doesn’t really matter.
Things are at their most horror-tinged here. And between the sepia-toned flashbacks and the gray, snowy present, the episode’s color scheme is particularly bleak. It’s all fitting for this dive into the darkest of bending arts.
Continued below5. Amon gets scarier.
In the last few minutes of the episode, just as Tarrlok is leaving Korra’s prison, Amon shows up. Naturally, Tarrlok attempts to bloodbend him… but Amon, after a brief hesitance, keeps walking towards Tarrlok, then takes away Tarrlok’s bending.
That shot of Amon’s leg struggling and then pushing past the bloodbending? Terrifying. After seeing every main character of both Korra AND Avatar fall to this mysterious bloodbending, this sets up Amon as the most powerful character on the show. How could he possibly have done this, if the only other person to resist bloodbending was Aang, and even then, only when he was in the Avatar State? What secret power does Amon hold, and how does it relate to his ability to take away a bender’s power?
—
What did you think of the episode? Do you like these highly serialized chapters? Any thoughts on our OG Team Avatar as adults? Let’s chat in the comments, and I’ll see you next week!
