580 replies to this topic

[Trini Girl]

New series; new avatar!

http://www.nick.com/shows/legend-of-korra

http://www.korranation.com

Lots of info in the previous Avatar thread.

[SunBurn]

So we have a new thread now? Wow. This show got even more special! I love how the trailers on Korra Nation tell us so much, gah, I hate that we have to wait over a month for new episodes. So it looks like it will be Mako and Korra as the couple and poor Bolin, what did he do to deserve being electrocuted? From a previous poster on the old thread, I love your idea about Amon being able to spirit bend. That would be a nice twist and not a waste of key plot point.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 6:31 PM.
Unnecessary spoiler tags

[WileyCoyote]

Is this where we are now? Cool.

Those first two episodes were SO totally made of win. Pre-airing I had doubts about modernizing the setting, about the big time jump. It sounded gimmicky. But they've totally sold me. Jumping ahead two generations has made this incredibly fresh.

Primary to me is the sense of pure fun these episodes (so far) exude. We know darn well there's dark stuff coming, we're getting plenty of hints, but there's definitely a joyful quality to the reveal process.

[InternalParadox]

Never mind me, I'll just repost here what I posted in the A:TLA thread last night:

I'm still digesting the second episode, but I want to share some initial impressions:

Spoiler

*They are very obviously setting up Mako/Korra, and I have no problem with it! :)
*Tenzin's kids crack me up. Meelo: "Be the leaf!" and:
Tenzin: "Promise me you won't be like that when you're a teenager!"
Jinora: *looks up from book* "I will make no such promise."
*ProBending is a dynamic sport. Love the boxing moves! I'm very glad I saw the "Bryan explains ProBending" video. They really though everything out, which makes it more fun to watch! Quidditch, eat your heart out!
*Figures that the air bending footwork Tenzin taught Korra would come in handy at the end of the match, but I didn't see it coming. Loved Tenzin's cheer before he caught himself!

There were so many great lines throughout the ep.

David Faustino may not be Dante Basco, but he's doing a great job and I love his line readings!

Spoiler

Mako: "You're the Avatar, and I'm an idiot."
Korra: "Yes! To both of those things!"

Keep telling it like it is, you two!

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 11:16 PM.
Added spoiler tags

[WileyCoyote]

BTW: Apparently the show title is officially simply "The Legend of Korra". Initially it was "Avatar: Legend of Korra", which made sense, but of course everyone fears James Cameron and his stupid alien smurfs. Later it was changed to the totally confusing "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra" (confusing since plenty of airbenders seem to be around in this show). Finally they dropped all of the attempts at a multi-part title, so now its just "The Legend of Korra".

[Bleu]

My love for Korra is confirmed. We're getting someone very confident and powerful, who is then easily frustrated at the talent that doesn't come easy to her. For all her blowing up she's quick to apologize, and to find the right thing to say sometimes like in the interview. So, there's charm.

Spoiler

I knew the airbending training would be connected to the pro-bending as the show set it up.

I love Bolin because he reminds me so much of Sokka with like everything he said and did. Not that I think he will be a Sokka-clone; that's not a worry of mine.

Spoiler

The destruction of the monument made me wince. It called back, for me, the destruction of the Air Temple while the Mechanist was inhabiting it, and what it made Aang feel. Plus I just tend to wince at destruction of historical artifacts in media. I was glad they were rebuilding it, but I think some parts were just destroyed, like when Meelo was just wrecking them into smaller pieces after Korra blew them up.

I kind of hoped that was a mislead with the shipping, because I prefer it when pairings are established differently, not putting longing stares in the first couple of episodes when we barely know the characters enough to get invested in it. It kind of puts blocks on my shipping tendencies unless I can find another ship to ship during the show.

As for the bending, some undeveloped thoughts:

Spoiler

- it can't be like the Jews in Nazi Germany as one poster brought up in the other thread, because anti-Semitism had existed for centuries before that at least. It was present in the Middle Ages. Plus, benders have been in the ruling class or have been the ruling class in all four nations and it didn't seem to be a new thing, historically. Tenzin is even a councilman. I know Jews could and did get into the higher classes of the nations they were in, but I still think that's different, although I'm fuzzy on the actual history. Bending seems to have been acknowledged openly as a central part of the cultures of each nation, and tied into cultural pride.

- Following that, maybe anti-bending sentiment surfaced in Republic City. We don't know much about the world and the history of anti-bending, but it seems to me that it would be a place in which bending wouldn't necessarily be a key part of cultural pride. Or it could be, but since it's supposed to be separate from the Four Nations, it provides a new context in which the hostilities could find a breathing ground. Especially if there was resentment at bending being a source of cultural pride, and the new country was a place to start over or something, even though it was founded by two hugely important benders. We will see.

Edited to add: I forgot that I was going to agree with Chrysaor. Korra's build is pleasing to me, and it made me think that I would like for them to include another kind of big girl or big woman in the show as well. A genuinely fat woman in a decent role. Like Iroh, only I don't mean they have to have his personality or exact role. Just, he got to be fat and badass and wise and a great person, long before the bulk became all muscle. I'd like to see a fat girl or woman like that in a somewhat important role, developed well. I'm not saying they don't do great, but that they make me hope for even better because they're great.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 11:16 PM.
Added spoiler tags

[Trini Girl]

BTW: Apparently the show title is officially simply "The Legend of Korra". Initially it was "Avatar: Legend of Korra", which made sense, but of course everyone fears James Cameron and his stupid alien smurfs. Later it was changed to the totally confusing "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra" (confusing since plenty of airbenders seem to be around in this show). Finally they dropped all of the attempts at a multi-part title, so now its just "The Legend of Korra".

I've seen it both ways in various places. Is there a Nick press release somewhere? I did look, because I wanted the title to be correct. (This way is good, though, because it relates to the previous series. I can ask the mods to change, if necessary.)

[Chrysaor]

It *should* be "Avatar: The Legend of Korra", James Cameron's nonsense or not and Shyamalan's awful movie workaround or not. Being the incarnation of the spirit of a planet trumps remote-operating a CGI furry fetish suit in the proper use of the term.

[SVNBob]

From a previous poster on the old thread, I love your idea about Amon being able to spirit bend. That would be a nice twist and not a waste of key plot point.

That was my thought (although someone else may have independently came up with it elsewhere/when). And on further thought, I wondered how that would be possible. And while the original theory is spooky enough, the theory I just came up with is even scarier. Aang would probably have taken the secret of Spiritbending to his grave, not teaching even Tenzin how to do it. And I doubt a lionturtle would have given that knowledge to someone dangerous like Amon appears to be.

That leaves only one possibility. Amon learned how to Spiritbend when it was done to him.
By Aang.
70 years ago.
Amon is former Firelord Ozai. **shudder**

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 6:33 PM.
Unnecessary spoiler tags

[Chrysaor]

Eh, I don't know about that. If it were true, he'd be over 100 years old, and Amon looks pretty spry. Chi-blocking or even Spiritbending has never seemed like an old person's game.

[InternalParadox]

[snip] I think a Holocaust scenario is highly unlikely. Events and characters A:TLA were often inspired by real historical events in Asia. Kuei, the Earth King, for example, was likely based on the last king of China. The Airbender massacre alluded to Tibet, etc.

Spoiler

So I'm pretty sure the Equalists will be the Avatar version of Communists. The name suggests it, the platform is on the mark, and if you like anagrams, remove the "N" and rearrange the letters: Amon=Mao…

That said, I'm rusty with my history here and have no idea how

Spoiler

"Avatar: The Communist Revolution: Down with the Bourgeois-Benders!" would play out.

I totally trust the creators ability to mix history with fantasy, though!

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 11:18 PM.
Boards on boards

[TWoP Howard]

To repeat my reminder from the other thread: previews, sneak peeks, promo pictures, episode descriptions, and character descriptions are not spoilers since they are first-party material. Nor is any speculation based on those a spoiler, so please don’t use tags. I get that you are trying to be considerate, but you need to save spoiler tags for actual spoilers or they become meaningless. Check out the Spoiler section of the FAQ for details. Thanks!

If the title has been changing that frequently, I think I’ll wait until the show airs and then make any changes necessary.

Update: I didn’t realize there were full episodes available on line, so the first part of the post may have been confusing. To clarify: early-released episodes are spoilers, so major plot points should be hidden under spoiler bars until the episode airs on TV. General comments like "What a great episode" or "I’m not liking Character A so far" are not spoilers, though. And if I need to adjust any spoiler tags, please let me know.

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 26, 2012 @ 11:20 PM.

[SVNBob]

If it were true, he'd be over 100 years old, and Amon looks pretty spry.

Wasn't Bumi both though? We know people in this world can and do live long and active lives; benders even moreso. So it's possible.

[BoomerAangSquad]

Animation Insider posted a review of Welcome to Republic City, along with a character chart (featuring Kya and Bumi) and the rules to Pro-bending.

[TheNarrator]

Amon is former Firelord Ozai. **shudder**

While it would make a twisted sort of sense from Ozai's sociopathic perspective that if he can't bend anymore, then no one will, I sort of doubt this is going to be the case. Aside from his age (even if there have been some very long-lived characters in this series), from a storytelling standpoint, I don't think that the creators would want their new hero to be fighting a rehash of the previous generation's villain.

But it does raise an interesting point. Amon wears a mask. And it makes sense that the leader of an underground terrorist organization would want to hide his identity: become too recognizable in that role, and you might find a metalbending SEAL Team Six dropping by for a visit. But it also means that Amon could secretly also be one of the other characters on the show.

We don't really have anything to go on yet, but just based on the character bios that have been released, I'm willing to try a little wild speculation. Hiroshi Sato. The guy who brought the automobile (satomobile) into mass production and made them cheap enough to be available to the masses. Apparently he and his daughter are going to be supporting characters. A wealthy industrialist who builds and sells technology... the same technology that is removing society's dependence on benders to function. Who better to lead--and perhaps more importantly, fund--a movement to do away with benders?

(Now, watch as in later episodes I'm proved wrong when it turns out that Hiroshi Sato is the nicest guy ever....)

[Chrysaor]

I'm going to go out on a limb and posit that Amon is Bumi the younger, Aang and Katara's older son. He's gone nuts with jealousy because he's the only one in the family who isn't a Bender, assuming that character chart holds up.

[TheNarrator]

That's also an interesting theory. A personal jealousy motivation rather than an economic one. And that would make the villain the brother of Korra's mentor, so it would provide a personal connection and sense of betrayal for her and the audience.

[BoomerAangSquad]

I kinda hope they go the V for Vendetta route and have Amon's identity never revealed, or at least have him be someone we never met before. His importance to the story should be what he does, not who he is behind the mask.

[Chrysaor]

Speaking of mentors, I was a little surprised that they haven't shown us who Korra's formal Waterbending, Earthbending, and Firebending teachers were. I've been wondering if she actually studied under Katara, which would be all kinds of awesome. And I didn't really recognize anyone on the White Lotus council evaluating her Firebending mastery.

[TheNarrator]

I've been wondering if she actually studied under Katara, which would be all kinds of awesome. And I didn't really recognize anyone on the White Lotus council evaluating her Firebending mastery.

It sort of seems like she's being trained by committee. In "Welcome to Republic City"

Spoiler

the gathered masters of the White Lotus were all chiming in with their opinions on her firebending ("She's strong." "She lacks restraint.") and even the firebender-looking guy who presumably did the actual teaching said that "we haven't decided if you've passed your firebender training yet." They consulted Katara as well, so either she was Korra's waterbending teacher, or being the only one there who's actually trained an Avatar before makes her their general expert.

Personally, I'm pretty sure that Korra was right when she said

Spoiler

that keeping her cooped up at the South Pole isn't what Aang would have wanted. The Avatar is supposed to go to their teachers, not vice versa. That way they can learn about how each culture lives. The White Lotus dropped the ball here.

[magicdog]

Spoiler

Korra was right when she said that keeping her cooped up at the South Pole isn't what Aang would have wanted. The Avatar is supposed to go to their teachers, not vice versa. That way they can learn about how each culture lives. The White Lotus dropped the ball here.

I agree Aang

Spoiler

wouldn't have wanted Korra penned up, but I can understand why it was done. Aang himself barely got away alive (and that was only because the monks broke with tradition and told him 4 years earlier than Avatars are supposed to know who they are) and I'm guessing after all the raids on the Southern Water Tribe since that time, Korra's keepers thought it best to keep her sheltered. Not to mention Korra's abilities showed up so early in her life and she was rather destructive.

Spoiler

In Korra's case she'll be learning about life in RC soon enough (she seemed to catch on quick in the pilot) and just like Aang's unusual circumstance of surviving the 100 year war, I think it will be deduced that it was meant to work out this way.

Edited by magicdog, Mar 29, 2012 @ 4:02 AM.

[TheNarrator]

I agree Aang wouldn't have wanted

Spoiler

Korra penned up, but I can understand why it was done. Aang himself barely got away alive (and that was only because the monks broke with tradition and told him 4 years earlier than Avatars are supposed to know who they are) and I'm guessing after all the raids on the Southern Water Tribe since that time, Korra's keepers thought it best to keep her sheltered.

Yes, but

Spoiler

that was during the war, which had been over for more than 50 years when Korra was born. There wasn't a military force hunting for Korra like there was for Aang. And if there had been, I don't think that their snow-walled compound could have withstood a siege by a battalion of tanks.

The possibility that someone might assassinate the Avatar is something they need to take into consideration. But other world leaders, like the Fire Lord and Earth King, manage to travel the world without getting killed. If nothing else, couldn't they set up a compound similar to the one at the South Pole in each of the other two nations, so she could be exposed to each of the three cultures? By the time she finished her waterbending training and was ready to move there, she'd be capable of defending herself and have enough control to not constantly wreak things like she did as a child.

Still, it's good that she got to stay in touch with her parents. Otherwise she probably wouldn't be as well adjusted as she is. That tends to be where these "raising a child to be a superweapon" plans tend to backfire.

[SVNBob]

This is interesting. According to his own Twitter, Steve Blum is the voice of Amon. Talk about star power....

[InternalParadox]

Yup, Steve Blum is Amon! Saw someone post this about it:

I know who Amon is! Spike Spegal! I recognized his voice as soon as I heard him.

LOL! :P

[Eegah]

Plus Blunk, the Green Goblin, the Laughing Man, Leeron...the man has range.

Edited by Eegah, Apr 2, 2012 @ 5:28 PM.

[ntl85]

If you're in the US, the first 2 episodes are now free on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.....-1/id511441792

[SunBurn]

I can't get over how wonderful the animation looks. I keep thinking about how pretty it is, lol. I wonder if Nick is going to air both eps on the 14th or spread them out. I am hoping that they air both that way we can get a new one on the 21st.

[Punkinetta]

Short and cute clip from an upcoming episode.

ETA: Found a pretty critical gif that might give credence to the whole energy bending theory. Link, clips, and gifs are spoilery.

Edited by Punkinetta, Apr 3, 2012 @ 12:49 AM.

[magicdog]

Found a pretty critical gif that might give credence to the whole energy bending theory

Energy bending or spirit bending?

The clips I saw make me think

Spoiler

Ammon definitely has the ability to spirit bend. The turtle that taught it to Aang mentioned that doing so could risk corruption [of the soul] so I can see why Ammon lost it if he's done it to other benders

On the plus side, it's good to see that Korra

Spoiler

is getting the hang of the airbending exercise she blew up earlier.

[InternalParadox]

Pukinetta What I got from that clip: Earthbending is an easy way to get annoying kids off your back. Perfectly safe, as long as the kids can fly! ;)

From the GIF: I think Amon is chi-blocking people's minds, like a mix of regular chi-blocking and Dai Li brainwashing, which is creepier to me than energy/spirit bending.

On the Korra Nation tumblr, that clip is introduced with this:

Korra’s training is interrupted when her fire-bending crush Mako arrives.

They're really pushing a Mako/Korra ship early and hard. i wonder why they didn't do more of a "Do they really like one another?" or love triangle/square (w/Asumi) situation first.