The Legend of Korra - Book One: Air

[intrinsical]

- Looks like the team will be central to the show. I'm not super thrilled about that either, but I'm willing to see it through.

Its the same core group as the last Avatar. There's the Avatar, a lover of the opposite sex and a plucky sidekick for comedic relief.

- Those other monks in the temple couldn't have been air benders. Bending is hereditary, so Tenzin and his kids should be the only air benders, unless Katara had other kids with bending capabilities.

I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to the 2nd episode, but I don't remember seeing any other monks bending air in the temple. For all we know, Tenzin and his children are the only air-benders in the temple and the other monks are non-benders who were there to learn monkly stuff from Aang and Tenzin.

 

[OmahaStar]

You're right, I misread what you're wrote. My point still stands, the avatar is defined by his ability to bend all four elements, even if learning one is harder than the others, the avatar can do it.

We know there are more than four now. Can the Avatar metal-bend as well?

For a second there, I had this image of the Avatar in some kind of metal band, and it almost works. lol

 

[Takeru]

According to the Avatar Wiki, Aang and Katara's first two children -- named Kya (for Katara's mother) and Bumi -- were non-benders.

Kya is a waterbender, Bumi ist the only non-bender and some fans are already speculating that he's Amon. I hope not because that would be really lame.

We know there are more than four now. Can the Avatar metal-bend as well?

No, there are still only four elements, metalbending is earthbending and of course the avatar can metalbend, every earthbender can theoretically learn it, it's not its own bending style, just an advanced form.

 

[Christopher]

^Right -- metalbending is one of the specialized bending techniques or subskills -- a variation of an existing bending ability rather than a separate one. As explained in "The Guru," metal contains trace impurities of earth which highly skilled earthbenders can sense and manipulate. (Which implies that metallurgical techniques in the Avatar World are a bit crude; so if the Equalists could develop more advanced techniques and produce impurity-free metals, those could be used as a weapon/defense against the metalbender cops.)

 

[Agent Richard07]

I figured that if Aang's spirit-bending could let him take away someone's bending ability, it could also let him imbue someone with bending ability. So I figured he could've created hundreds of airbenders that way, instead of having to repopulate the line the old-fashioned way. I guess that's not the way it works, though, and I wonder why.

It would probably make things too easy if the avatar could just imbue anyone with bending abilities. I wonder if this show will deal with that though. What if it explored the issue of non-benders developing or being given abilities. The story seems ripe for that. And as I suggested earlier, I wonder if these equalists will find some way to take away Korra's bending abilities.

The Avatar is the nexus of spiritual balance in the world. Fire is balanced by water, earth is balanced by air. Remove any one of those elements and the balance is lost -- just as the balance of the world was lost when Fire Lord Sozin wiped out the Air Nomads. Not to mention that every Avatar contains the same soul as every previous Avatar. Spiritually, Korra is not just Korra, she's also Aang and Roku and Kyoshi and Kuruk and Yangchen and so on all the way back to the beginning. So she has the soul of an airbender just as much as she has the soul of a waterbender, earthbender, and firebender. It's impossible to separate one of those threads out of who she is. Her current personality or genetics may make it difficult for her to access that part of her spirit, but it's definitely within her.

Fair enough. Seeing Korra unable to bend air had me concerned, or at least made me think a little about the situation and possible twists for the story. I guess that's a testament to the show's writing, the richness of the world of Avatar and the show's underlying ideas.

As for this metal bending business and the idea of bending other elements, I always thought that "Sparky Sparky Boom Man" came off as more of a light bender, especially since his power eminated from his third eye which is the chakra for light. In fact, all through watching The Last Airbender, I couldn't help but think it would have been an interesting twist to reveal three additional elements to the mix... Sound, Light and Thought. Those, and the classic four make up the seven elements of the chakra system.

Its the same core group as the last Avatar. There's the Avatar, a lover of the opposite sex and a plucky sidekick for comedic relief.

At first, I thought she was going to befriend that wacky guy in the park and that he'd fill the "Sokka" role.

 

[Christopher]

And as I suggested earlier, I wonder if these equalists will find some way to take away Korra's bending abilities.

Well, apparently

Spoiler: Equalists

they are chi-blockers like Ty Lee, so they can temporarily neutralize benders' ability to do bending moves or focus their chi.

Beyond that, when it comes to taking away benders' abilities permanently, I'd imagine Amon will be content to do that in the crudest and most obvious way: killing them. Once you've settled on violence as a valid method, it tends to remove any interest in developing subtler approaches. Besides, I don't see how anyone other than the Avatar could have the power to take someone's bending away.

Fair enough. Seeing Korra unable to bend air had me concerned, or at least made me think a little about the situation and possible twists for the story. I guess that's a testament to the show's writing, the richness of the world of Avatar and the show's underlying ideas.

Remember, Aang was unable to earthbend at first, and there was a point where Zuko lost touch with his firebending ability. Korra has a similar mental block when it comes to airbending, that's all. Which is partly for the reason they stated, that her personality is opposite that needed to master airbending. But I wonder if there could be another reason. I can imagine an Avatar being ambivalent about being the reincarnation of someone else; that's got to screw up one's sense of identity and individuality. Maybe Korra's afraid to airbend because she's afraid of losing who she is. Sure, her past lives before Aang included all four abilities, but Aang was her immediate predecessor, the only prior Avatar who was around in any human's living memory, and perhaps the most important Avatar in history, or certainly in recent history. So I can see why Korra might be subconsciously afraid to accept the part of herself that was Aang.

At first, I thought she was going to befriend that wacky guy in the park and that he'd fill the "Sokka" role.

I was thinking of the Bush Hobo more as a candidate for the Cabbage Vendor role.

But yeah, the core trio is pretty similar -- the Avatar, the Avatar's romantic interest, and the romantic interest's comic-relief brother. Although Mako's personality resembles Zuko more than Katara. (I've seen him described as "Zuko without the angst.")

 

[Agent Richard07]

Well, apparently

Spoiler: Equalists

they are chi-blockers like Ty Lee, so they can temporarily neutralize benders' ability to do bending moves or focus their chi.

Beyond that, when it comes to taking away benders' abilities permanently, I'd imagine Amon will be content to do that in the crudest and most obvious way: killing them. Once you've settled on violence as a valid method, it tends to remove any interest in developing subtler approaches.

I don't know what would happen if he managed to wipe out all benders, but killing the avatar would just cause her to reincarnate. Besides, there's more satisfaction in seeing your enemy weakened and humiliated. I don't know if Amon holds that attitude, but it would make things more interesting if he did.

Besides, I don't see how anyone other than the Avatar could have the power to take someone's bending away.

I don't either, but chi blocking sounds like a good start.

Remember, Aang was unable to earthbend at first, and there was a point where Zuko lost touch with his firebending ability. Korra has a similar mental block when it comes to airbending, that's all. Which is partly for the reason they stated, that her personality is opposite that needed to master airbending. But I wonder if there could be another reason. I can imagine an Avatar being ambivalent about being the reincarnation of someone else; that's got to screw up one's sense of identity and individuality. Maybe Korra's afraid to airbend because she's afraid of losing who she is. Sure, her past lives before Aang included all four abilities, but Aang was her immediate predecessor, the only prior Avatar who was around in any human's living memory, and perhaps the most important Avatar in history, or certainly in recent history. So I can see why Korra might be subconsciously afraid to accept the part of herself that was Aang.

Now I'm having flashes of Clark Kent. Whatever her case is, they've set up an interesting journey for her. For whatever reason, Korra's situation feels more dire than what other characters have gone through. Maybe it's because of nature of the conflict that's brewing.

 

[Christopher]

For whatever reason, Korra's situation feels more dire than what other characters have gone through. Maybe it's the nature of the conflict that's brewing.

That's funny; I had just the opposite reaction. Here's what I said about it on my blog:

---

On reflection, one other thing has been bugging me a bit. Korra is worth watching for the gorgeous animation and rich characterizations and good music and such, but so far there’s very little sense of danger or high stakes. By the end of episode 2 of A:TLA, we knew that the world was torn apart by war, that Aang had an urgent mission to pursue, that he felt guilty for abandoning the world and allowing the war to happen, and that he and his friends were being pursued by a driven and capable enemy who’d already done a lot of damage to Katara and Sokka’s home and would stop at nothing to capture Aang. There was a clear, palpable sense of danger and urgency. Here, though, the stakes don’t seem all that high. The opening narration sets up the current situation but doesn’t give any indication of danger or trouble. The first episode does establish the core conflict in Republic City — the unrest between benders and non-benders, the crime and social inequality, the risk of failing to fulfill Aang and Zuko’s vision for the city. It suggests that Korra has a role in resolving those problems, and it introduces the villain Amon who will be her main rival. But this is all more potential than actual at this point, and then episode 2 de-escalates things and spends the whole time focusing solely on Korra’s training and character interactions. So any sense of high stakes hinted at in episode 1 faded in episode 2, and it’s hard to feel at this point that what we’re seeing is anywhere near as important as A:TLA’s saga.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional episode that has low stakes and focuses on character rather than danger and fighting. ”The Headband” in A:TLA’s season 3 is such an episode, and it works very well. But if the intent was to debut the series with two back-to-back episodes, then it would’ve worked better to have a second episode that escalated things like “The Avatar Returns” did. As it is, it feels kind of like the producers are coasting — like they expect us to watch out of loyalty and so aren’t trying as hard to give this series a really compelling storyline. I’m hoping that subsequent episodes will prove otherwise, but the opening of this series is simply not as narratively strong as that of its predecessor.

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ Interesting take. I think they've topped themselves with this show. With The Last Airbender, we had one nation run amok, but this time, we're dealing with a group that wants to pretty much take bending away, and to me, that's pretty big stuff. Bending used to be a tool in the conflict, now it is the conflict. We may not have big warships and a boy on the run, but we've got an issue that hits at the very core of the world of Avatar.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe, but it's kind of nebulously defined in the two episodes so far. We have yet to see a confrontation between the heroine and the villain, nobody in episode 2 was in danger of anything more than hurt feelings or a few bruises, and I just don't feel the same sense of urgency that I had by the end of episode 2 of A:TLA.

 

[Skywalker]

They're both different types of stories. TLA was a quest/adventure story that took the characters all over the world, while LoK appears to be of a smaller scale, with only Republic City being the primary focus. With the story focusing on just one locale rather than the fate of the entire world (for now, at least), it makes sense to me that there isn't as much of a sense of urgency as there was for the TLA gang. At this point, Korra's just trying to learn airbending while adapting to life in Republic City. She doesn't have a global threat looming over her head right now, like Aang did from the moment he woke up.

 

[Snaploud]

- Those other monks in the temple couldn't have been air benders. Bending is hereditary, so Tenzin and his kids should be the only air benders, unless Katara had other kids with bending capabilities.

According to the Avatar Wiki, Aang and Katara's first two children -- named Kya (for Katara's mother) and Bumi -- were non-benders.

The Avatar Wiki refers to Kya as a waterbender. The open question, of course, would be any grandchildren of Kya or Bumi. They would probably end up as airbenders, waterbenders, and/or non-benders. Of course, that all assumes that bending is almost entirely hereditary and not influenced by culture/environment/upbringing.

 

[Christopher]

They're both different types of stories. TLA was a quest/adventure story that took the characters all over the world, while LoK appears to be of a smaller scale, with only Republic City being the primary focus. With the story focusing on just one locale rather than the fate of the entire world (for now, at least), it makes sense to me that there isn't as much of a sense of urgency as there was for the TLA gang. At this point, Korra's just trying to learn airbending while adapting to life in Republic City. She doesn't have a global threat looming over her head right now, like Aang did from the moment he woke up.

That's a fair point. I guess what I'm saying is largely that if you're going to debut your first two episodes back-to-back, it doesn't work well for episode 2 to be such a de-escalation of tension. Maybe they would've been better off just releasing episode 1 by itself as the debut.

 

[SG-17]

I'd love to see it if Korra can learn lightning generation or if by some genetic fluke it is only limited to Sozin's bloodline. I'd also like to know if Korra knows how to heal, plantbend, and bloodbend. I imagine that Katara would let that last technique die though.

 

[Christopher]

I'd love to see it if Korra can learn lightning generation or if by some genetic fluke it is only limited to Sozin's bloodline.

I think that if a bending skill exists, the Avatar could master it in time. It's hard to imagine an ordinary bender having abilities the Avatar was incapable of.

I'd also like to know if Korra knows how to heal, plantbend, and bloodbend. I imagine that Katara would let that last technique die though.

Since Korra's a waterbender by birth, that's the discipline that probably comes most easily to her. I'm sure Master Katara taught her healing many years ago, and she could develop plantbending skills given practice if she hasn't already. I agree that Katara probably wouldn't reveal her knowledge of bloodbending to anyone.

 

[OmahaStar]

Is anyone else tired of seeing one post after another from Chris? Is there anybody else who would care to discuss Legend of Korra, or has this thread been turned over to the dark side?

 

[Thestral]

^ What does that even mean?

That's a fair point. I guess what I'm saying is largely that if you're going to debut your first two episodes back-to-back, it doesn't work well for episode 2 to be such a de-escalation of tension. Maybe they would've been better off just releasing episode 1 by itself as the debut.

Well, it also introduced the other major players and established more how Korra will be relating to everybody. I don't mind the lack of a (thus far) massively earth-shattering conflict because I'd hate to see them try and top what they did in The Last Airbender.

Plus, having a more action-oriented hero in a conflict that looks like it may require a more deft touch will probably make for some good drama - Korra's somewhat hotheaded and less given to patience and (presumably) diplomacy than Aang.

 

[Yevetha]

I'd love to see it if Korra can learn lightning generation or if by some genetic fluke it is only limited to Sozin's bloodline. I'd also like to know if Korra knows how to heal, plantbend, and bloodbend. I imagine that Katara would let that last technique die though.

How would bllodbending bee different?

Plantbending would make sense, but bloodbending...
Why not spermbending? Then.

 

[Brikar99]

So, perhaps I missed this somewhere upthread, but when exactly does this show start airing regularly?

 

[Hound of UIster]

I'd love to see it if Korra can learn lightning generation or if by some genetic fluke it is only limited to Sozin's bloodline. I'd also like to know if Korra knows how to heal, plantbend, and bloodbend. I imagine that Katara would let that last technique die though.

How would bllodbending bee different?

Plantbending would make sense, but bloodbending...
Why not spermbending? Then.

2/3 of your body is water.