Why is it hard to understand why someone losing their bending would be devastating? Benders, once discovering their ability, dedicate their lives to training and honing their gift and then depend on it for their livelihood. Bending, for many of them, gives them their purpose in life. It's also obvious that bending provides another set of senses through which the bender can communicate with their medium. That's a LOT to lose if you ask me, and I didn't even throw in any spiritual elements since that aspect of bending isn't very clear. It'd almost be like losing a leg.

Anyway, does anyone else think Pema and Tenzin are kind of creepy? The show makes it feel like they love and respect each other and all, but she really is a baby factory first and foremost. That and Tenzin is a good 15 years older than her. I wonder if he'll have to dump her for an even younger wife once she gets too old to pump out airbenders anymore?

I hadn't put 2 and 2 together until OITL had broken it down but the LoK's fandom's psychotic ship wars and wel,l ships (IrohxAnyone) perfectly frame why I'm anti-ship. Unless of course it's a canon pair.

Poking my head in because Tumblr makes me feel like I've watched LoK even though I haven't.

CausalityStar wrote:

They do explain in A:TLA that the new Avatar is born right after the old one dies. In "The Avatar and the Firelord" they show Aang being born right after Roku meets his death by volcano. However, they didn't really explain whether or not the Avatar gets a different "soul" each time. We know that the Avatar gets a different personality each time she or he gets reincarnated (and what gender the Avatar is appears to be random; the Avatar just follows the cycle of nations.)

Doesn't Aang at some point actually talk to Roku's spirit/soul? I think that's why I think their individual souls are separate from the Avatar entity.

Then again, it's also possible that the Avatar entity is an amalgamation of all previous Avatars.

And I wouldn't say that the gender selection is random, either. It's that we're looking at it as a cycle/pattern of 4 instead of a cycle/pattern of 8. The Avatar cycle is intended such that they get a balanced experience as a male AND female member of all four nations.

Korra= female Waterbender
Aang= male Airbender
Roku=male Firebender
Kyoshi= female Earthbender
Kuruk=male Waterbender
Yangchen=female Airbender

So, the next Avatar after Korra will be a male Earthbender, and the Avatar before Yangchen is a female Firebender.

I like to think that each soul is indeed a new one, but contains the spirit of the Avatar... that is to say that an avatar's spirit vibration is the same. Does that make sense? Hmmm... Let's see... Each Avatar is themselves, but is born with a special link that allows them to communicate differently with the world around them. In this way they are able to bend all elements and communicate with the spirits around. I know that in the TLA world, that there were others who could commune with spirits, but the Avatar has the avatar link that connects them with the spirit world. Depending on the individual personality, an avatar may find the link more easily than the previous, but it is there. For non-avatars (well, everyone else), they must first establish that link. That in itself could take years of soul searching and eventual Enlightenment.

idk, that's just my personal canon.

I really would like to learn more about the previous avatars. Kyoshi lived a VERY long time, and Yangchen was said to be an Enlightened Airbender. We know a good deal about Roku, but NOTHING about Kuruk. I thought that Korra would connect with him as her guide, but alas not so much. I know Aang connected with Roku, but I thought that was because of Roku's association with the war. I hadn't realized that the immediate past incarnation would guide the newest.

CausalityStar wrote:

@Melancholic Soul

I think that your personal canon makes a lot of sense. Also, if you want to know more about some of the Avatars before Aang, the Animated Graphic novel, "Escape From the Spirit World", which takes place right between seasons two and three gives you some more information about Aang's past lives. It was included on the second season DVD release as a special feature and it may still be on youtube somewhere.

Ah, I will definitely look for that.

CausalityStar wrote:

I'm confused by what you mean about Yangchen being an "Enlightened Airbender". In the series finale when Aang talks to her, she specifical says that the Avatar can never detach themselves from the world, even if s/he is an Air Nomad and find spiritual freedom because their duty is to the world.

Enlightened was definitely the wrong word. I meant that she was a highly respected person of her people.

PrettyPeopleWithSwords wrote:

Why is it hard to understand why someone losing their bending would be devastating? Benders, once discovering their ability, dedicate their lives to training and honing their gift and then depend on it for their livelihood. Bending, for many of them, gives them their purpose in life. It's also obvious that bending provides another set of senses through which the bender can communicate with their medium. That's a LOT to lose if you ask me, and I didn't even throw in any spiritual elements since that aspect of bending isn't very clear. It'd almost be like losing a leg.

I'm just comparing the stakes between this and A:TLA.  We've been given no reason to assume that Amon and the Equalists kill or torture their captives, so to me, the stakes have been lowered.  There's also the lingering promise that bending may be returned by the same method that takes it away, energybending.  I'm just not very emotionally moved by benders having their bending removed at this point, because I have a strong feeling they'll get it back or because, hey, they aren't dead.  With the exception of five seconds with Tahno, there's been no real show of how having one's bending taken away affects them.  We can explain and talk about the importance of bending all we want, but LOK still needs to show the individual's connection with bending and what that means for it have any real impact for viewers, especially those who did not watch A:TLA (where we watched them struggle and sacrifice to learn their skill, and we were taught so much about the connection between bending and culture).  They can't have the fandom fill in the characterization blanks that they leave in the writing as much as thus far has been done.  :/  It's fun for fan-fiction and speculation, but I want to see this stuff in the show itself, which is not happening so much due to both the dumbass romance drama it keeps pushing into every relationship and just the constraints of a shorter, faster moving series.

For example, Korra losing her bending would upset and move me, but that's because it has been shown how much Korra loves bending -how she took so easily to the physical aspect of bending, how she uses it without thought in tandem with her emotions, like an extension of her body and spirit, her voiced concerns over her failure as an Avatar and how physical bending is the only thing she's good at.  Lin loosing her bending hits hard because of its connection with her late mother, but that's the kind of thing that needs to be shown, as in, the only thing we know about Lin and Toph's relationship at this point is that Lin fell out of her and also she used to bone Tenzin oh wait, fucking damnitstupidfreakinglovetriangles.  So, I can easily understand why bending would be devastating.... I want it to be shown and explored (and hopefully it will be).  Otherwise I'm meh.  Avatar has always been a high emotion show, be it anger, drama, sadness, fear, humor.  But it did it via solid, dedicated character exploration both in back-story and in present time.

CausalityStar wrote:

As for Toph and Lin, I'm personally a fan of Lin coming into existence this way: (Don't worry, it's completely safe for work)
http://fixingships.tumblr.com/post/23580211454

hahahaaa, I am now a believer in Earthbending Conception

CausalityStar wrote:

Now I want to talk about Yakone. How did he learn bloodbending when Hama was the one who invented it and Katara was apparently her only apprentice? Also, when Yakone is on trial, Katara is suspiciously absent. Very interesting...

I've wondered this too. How did Yakone learn bloodbending? I wondered if it was something he'd stumbled upon at some point. Sokka says something to the point that Yakone might have a trait that allows him to bloodbend without a full moon. I think that Katara can do this as well (a la the episode she bends that southern raider guy...northern raiders? I can't remember, but I was sure it wasn't a full moon out.)

I wonder if it was also possible that Yakone could have simply heard about blood bending, and then managed to teach himself. I'm sure the gAang's adventures would have been common knowledge in Yakone's childhood/youth.

Also, on a separate note, it seems that bloodbending may have been a real problem at some point. Otherwise, why ban a type of bending that only 2 people were known to use?

Melancholic_Soul wrote:

I wonder if it was also possible that Yakone could have simply heard about blood bending, and then managed to teach himself. I'm sure the gAang's adventures would have been common knowledge in Yakone's childhood/youth.

This seems unlikely considering that Yakone is at least a good decade older than Aang, if not two, not counting the iceberg time. But if one person can come up with the technique in captivity, there's no reason to assume that others couldn't follow in their footsteps.

Also, on a separate note, it seems that bloodbending may have been a real problem at some point. Otherwise, why ban a type of bending that only 2 people were known to use?

Well, there is a triad called Red Monsoons in the setting...

@Melancholic_Soul

That episode was called "The Southern Raiders". And it was a full moon when Katara was using bloodbending on that guy in the episode. Remember, she only used bloodbending on the current leader of the Southern Raiders, not the guy who actually killed her mom.

I have heard this "Katara can bloodbend without the full moon" idea before based on this episode, but if you watch the part where she and Zuko are intercepting the ship, they show a full moon. I do think it is possible for Katara to learn to bloodbend without a full moon since she is a waterbending prodigey. However, they have never shown her doing that in the series. The only times she used it were to bloodbend Hama and to use it on the current leader of the Southern Raiders and both times there was a full moon out.

@OnlyInThisLight

I think that the bloodbending without the full moon was kind of necessary, otherwise there would be no way that Tarrlok would be able to realistically keep Korra under his control for very long. (She's the avatar and he can't keep her in a metal box forever.) Not to mention, I doubt Tarrlok could've fought off Lin, Tenzin, and everyone in Team Avatar without his bloodbending. Some goes for Yakone fighting off everyone in the courtroom.

I am disappointed that the bloodbending arc was so short though because I was convinced that Tarrlok would at least be a minor villain for a few more episodes. But it's not illogical for bloodbending without the full moon to be possible, because the last series had extreme benders like Toph and Combustion Man.

***

I guess it's possible that Yakone independently came up with bloodbending and if he was already a criminal, than he could have taught it to more people, resulting in it being banned.

And that idea about Amon having an immunity to bloodbending thanks to energy bending sounds plausible. Also, glad you guys approve of Earthbending conception.


The idea that I had for Amon's origins was that he was the love child of Ty Lee and Azula because he's evil and a chi-blocker. It is possible, since for now his backstory is unverified.

@OnlyInThisLight


I like that idea of benders evolving along with society. In A:TLA only members of the Fire Nation royal family could lightning-bend and now even street urchins can do it. (I remember reading somewhere that Lightening Bolt Zolt taught him how to do that.)

Oh, and it's flattering that I'm the love of your life, thanks.

Mako does have an interesting character design and I liked his interaction with Bolin too. Sadly, he had a lot of potential, but got shafted by a combination of being the endgame love interest in the annoying love triangle. Similarly, I think that Bolin and Asami have gotten screwed over by that too, but at least they have likable personalities and aren't brooding assholes who secretly lurve u 4everz. Plus, a huge chunk of Team Avatar's badassery comes from Asami.

The fact that Mako has flaws doesn't bother me, it's the fact that he has them and everyone is totally oblivious to them with the exception of Asami. I just have the feeling that he'll end up badly hurting her feelings and still end up with Korra without learning anything. It'll be like, "Hey, it's perfectly okay to string along two people romantically because you'll still end up dating the Avatar."

If they wanted to focus more on romance in LOK, I wouldn't have minded if it was done properly and over the course of much more than twelve episodes so that the appropriate ratio of romance:plot is maintained.

The only love triangle I give a crap about is the imaginary one in my head between Amon, the Lieutenant, and Hiroshi Sato. Because we all know that Amon is going to get super pissed at the Lieutenant's incompetence and eventually leave him for Hiroshi Sato. And then Asami will be in a "Has Two Daddies Situation" and they'll all be one happy, dysfunctional family. (I know, I'm a horrible person, but someone else on tumblr suggested this love triangle and I just found it so hilarious that I couldn't help it.)

I called that shit about Amon being a bloodbender! Yeah! (I admit, I was wrong about him being Yakone, but at least I was on the right track.) And that episode actually made me feel bad for Tarrlok. Damn. So I guess we were wrong about the bloodbending arc coming to a conclusion so soon.

I still don't really like Makorra because I feel that Mako didn't really get enough character development/the ability to handle romantic relationships correctly. At least he finally apologized to Asami instead of blaming other people for his jackass behavior. Still, I felt like the show overall didn't really respect her feelings and that she was just a pawn to make Mako realize that he lurves Korra like for 5ever.

I did like Asami's confrontation with her father and the fact that it proves that she didn't join Team Avatar just to be with Mako. She really thought the Equalists methods were wrong and realized that her father's quest for revenge had corrupted the love he once once had for her mother. I sincerely hope that Asami gets a lot of screen time in season two. The same goes for Bolin. I hate how ever since episode five he's pretty much been reduced to the comic relief character and how throughout the finale he pretty much gets stuck with one-liners that are often inappropriate for the situation. They really need to make him more well-rounded like they did for Sokka.

Also, I hope that Korra and Asami will actually become friends. Notice how they were the only two members of Team Avatar who didn't hug each other or even say farewell. Even though the season ended the way OnlyInThisLight predicted, I am glad that Korra and Lin got their bending back. (And I still have the secret hope of Tahno appearing in season two. Yes I am delusional.)

I will definitely watch season two, but if it turns into "The Makorra Show, Featuring Third-Wheels Bolin and Asami" then I don't even know. I really want the focus to be on Korra's avatar journey and not on her journey of romance with her boyfriend.

I felt that the finale ended too clean for season 2.

Based on what I've seen, I'd have preferred if Korra gets stuck with air bending for a while, and actually take the time during season 2 to journey into spirit realm to relearn fire/earth/water bending. Unless the directors have something else in store for season 2...... but we shall see. I have to say though, I'll be a little bit sad if season 2 becomes largely Makorra. Toward the end of season 1, we finally get a glimpse into the more "human" aspect of the Lieutenant, and I really liked the flashback with Noatok and Tarrlok. I hope the potential for further character development won't be wasted.

@OnlyInThisLight

My hope for season two is that they actually focus on the power imbalances in Republic City with the Lieutenant leading the way. I also wished we had seen even more of Amon's back-story and learned how he was able to bloodbend in such a way. Because that's some powerful bloodbending if even Katara can't undue it.

Even if Mako did psuedo break up with Asami, she still didn't get the kind of closure she deserved. Mako should have broken up with her a long time ago. But at the same time, this makes me respect Asami so much more. A firebender killed her mom and her firebender boyfriend was an asshole and while Korra was never intentionally cruel to her, she was still oblivious to Asami's feelings. In spite of that, she did not develop an irrational prejudice towards benders unlike her father.

I agree with Hiraku a little about how Korra getting her bending back was just a little too neat. Still, I think that the connection to it was always there, because once she was airbending at Amon, she was able to resist his bloodbending, so I think there was some subconscious waterbending going on.

Still, I don't think I could wait until next season and have to deal with the possibility of Korra committing suicide, and that scene with Aang was really beautiful. Not to mention, seeing all of the other Avatars was totally awesome. I liked the season finale until the Makorra bit at the end. If they had had more episodes of Mako and Korra working together like they were in this one, then maybe I could buy that they love each other for 5ever. But right now I don't. Not to mention, a relationship needs more basis than "Yeah we're pretty benders who look good kicking ass together."

I would be okay with Bolin and Asami getting together, except that I get the feeling that if they happened, it would be written as badly as Makorra and make them both look like jerks and there would be the distinct impression that they were consolation prizes to each other. And that would be really lame because they are too awesome to be treated like prizes and not people.

And really, I would have a much easier time believing that Korra had romantic chemistry with Bolin or Asami, or hell even Tahno. Therefore, my AU Korra shipping headcanon is that Borra, Tahno, and Asami are part of Korra's Polyamorous Love Square. If Mako gets proper character development, then he may join the love square. But until then he is forever alone.

Back to Korra possibly attempting suicide: I really, really hope that season two explores some of her psychological issues. Korra is very clearly defined by bending and being the avatar. (Which makes totally since, because unlike Aang she wholeheartedly embraced her avatar destiny. Not to mention, unlike Aang she was protected and cared for her whole childhood and wasn't the only surviving member of a genocide.) Even if she got her bending back, I still think that she was seriously contemplating suicide and once you do that, it stays with you forever. So, hope season two explores this. (Plus, since LOK has 1920's level technology, it would be interesting if psychology is an emerging field as well.)

I also thought that last scene with Tarrlok and Amon was amazingly well-done. Seriously, Tarrlok may have been a scumbag, but I think he redeemed himself. I think he seriously regrets hurting Korra and other people and that he realized that if his brother escaped, he would just take on a new identity and start the whole thing all over again and hurt more people. And I'm impressed that they went there with that murder-suicide on this show.

So other than the Makorra, I am overall pleased with the finale and hope that in season two the redeem some of the writing flaws that they had in this season.