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Legend of Korra: Book 4 - Balance - Starts October 3

matt0044

Well-Known Member
I wonder if we'll get to see that centipede creature again (forgot his name). He was creepy but cool.

Oh, and because I'm such a fanboy for TV Tropes...
*Look at just how huge Republic City has become in just 70 years time, with many buildings being skyscrapers. Now that metalbending is commonplace, reinforced concrete and steel would have easily taken over as the choice of building construction. Rebar fabrication would be particularly simple with metalbending. Foundations would be no problem with Earthbending. Lightning bending could be used for welding. The fire nation had enough technical expertise to build a freaking Tunnel Boring machine the size of a small town! In Republic City, technology sharing would allow the combination of elements to do far more than what they could do alone. Road laying would be a piece of cake. We can go on and on as to just how bending centered the industry of the city might be, but it's clear that the bending arts must have given the industry a huge head start.

*And the importance of bending in the everyday fabric of Republic City life would have likely increased the prestige and privileges afforded to benders in the city, accentuating the inequality between benders and non-benders, and sowing the seeds of discontent among non-benders that later allows Amon to gather such a large following.

*However, if Mako and Bolin are anything to go by, there must be a lot of benders below the poverty line as well. Only while non-benders had to make do with small jobs like selling groceries, or living on the streets, the benders with the help of their abilities could form criminal gangs like the Triads, further widening the bender-non bender divide.

*And in other way, this would have definitely helped Sato and the poor Cabbage Merchant. Benders have the "technical skills" for the job, but the guy who can figure out how to harness the skill to get the business rolling and build an empire out of it, that takes something else. As Sato puts it, he had the ideas and the business sense to make them work. So the city might have an extreme wealth divide between non-benders - a few rich guys at the top, and a huge number near rock bottom.

*This also makes sense given the 1920s feel of the show. What kind of social unrest did the 1920s see? The rise of communist protests in the face of wealth inequality. Much like the Equalist rallies.

*Korra and Aang both started their adventures by running away from home, but where Aang was running away from his destiny as the Avatar, Korra was running towards it, leaving so she could learn the final element. Korra is supposed to be Aang's complete opposite, and this illustrates that wonderfully, especially as it's much more subtle than the obvious personality differences.

*How is it that Korra could already bend three elements as a child when previous Avatars never knew what they were until they were told? After the war of the last series, there has been concerted effort on the part of the nations to draw together. One's nation of origin is no longer the absolute identity marker that it once was. Why shouldn't a bending child think "Hey, what if I'm the new Avatar?" and try their hand at other elements? It was still a stroke of luck that she discovered correct techniques for bending them without formal training, but then Katara also started bending without formal training. And like tiny!Korra, she only evinced very rough ability to start with.

*Korra initially has trouble with moving like an airbender, as she tends to charge in headfirst and rely mostly on her strength to force things to dodge her. After she watches the match, and sees modern techniques for the first time, she is highly impressed, and gets help from Bolin. He teaches her how to be light on her feet, to not be so solid, and basically shows her the advantages of being able to react quickly and being able to dodge as opposed to planting herself to the ground and leaving herself open. Like Iroh figured out how to redirect lightning by watching waterbending, Korra figured out how to move like an airbender at least partially based on learning from an earthbender. The fact that both sets of elements are considered opposites probably helps, as it makes the benders look at things from a whole new perspective. Tenzin isn't the only one who "taught (Korra) those moves" when she starts moving like an airbender. As said in the episode, "Bolin's got some moves."

*At the start of the episode, when explaining how she's never been able to Airbend, Korra is wearing the sleeves of her air nomad clothing rolled up. Now while simply seems to be a bit of rebelliousness on her part, you have to remember that Korra has spent most of her life living in the South Pole. Not only must Republic City's climate (during the day) feel really warm to her, but she most likely enjoys being able to go out without having to wear clothes that cover her up.

*The Equalists have all been kicking bender *** rather easily. This makes sense as they are all trained specifically to take down benders, while the benders themselves, especially due to modernizing times, aren't all just focused on combat. This even makes sense for pro-Benders, pro-Benders fight at a distance and only focus on pushing back their opponents. Once a chi-blocker gets close...

*On a related note, the only bender Ty Lee fought without chi-blocking was Aang, the last airbender. Korra, an airbending student, has to fight chi-blocking mooks.

*Lightning Bolt Zolt runs the only pan-elemental Triad gang in the city, with other triads favoring specific elements and fighting turf wars against each other. So when Amon de-bends Zolt, he isn't just decapitating a major crime syndicate. He's depriving the criminal underworld of the only figure who has proven he can unite the various bending factions under one banner, leaving the Equalists to face a fractured underworld opposition.

*Not just that. By removing a major organization, he's creating the perfect situation for the other triads to make a grab for the Triple Threats' territory, sparking a turf war between the triads that will weaken them, keep the police occupied and create more reason for non-benders to join the Equalists when there's open bender-on-bender fighting in the streets.

*The brothers were rather easily taken out the Equalists lieutenant. Some have said this shows off their weakness in bending outside the ring, but if you think about it, they were hardly in top form. Mako, in addition to being worried about Bolin for a whole night and day, had been awake and searching for his brother all of the previous night, and had the fight with the chi-blockers, which probably led to a weakened state. Bolin had been kidnapped, presumably after a fight with the Equalists, and had been held captive for at least a night and a day. The conditions in which he was held are unknown, but we can assume that, at the very least, the Equalists kept their captives bound and chi-blocked. Both brothers would have been exausted, emotionally and physically, so it's really no wonder they were taken out so quickly.

*The Lieutenant also had the advantage of the fight being in an alley. This makes it much harder for the brothers to dodge and easier for him to administer his finishing move by pinning them against the wall.

Why doesn't Amon take away Korra's bending? Sure, he says it's so she doesn't become a martyr to benders, but let's face it, Korra's hasn't exactly got everyone on her side. Why not just get rid of her now so she can't cause anymore trouble for them? Think about the only other known energybender; the Avatar. Amon sees himself as a new type of Avatar. And in what cases did the Avatar end a war where a group of people were bullying and opressing others by making their hot-headed leader with an affinity for fire powerless through energybending? Aang vs. Ozai. Leaving Korra for last is rife with symbolism that fits perfectly into Equalist propaganda.

*Asami says that her father had her take martial arts so she could protect herself. Makes sense given what happened to his wife.

*Further, depending on how far back his alliances go, he may have been preparing her to become an equalist chi blocker.

*How are Yakone and Tarrlok able to knock people unconscious with bloodbending with a few hand movements? They are shifting the blood at fast enough speeds to raise it and then drop it so the victims are instantly hit unconscious with such a drop in blood pressure. Bending got scientific!

*Cutting off blood flow to the brain will cause someone to pass out within thirteen seconds. Conversely, it takes quite a bit of effort to kill someone this way, as you have to keep the brain deprived of oxygen for at least five minutes for brain damage to set in.

*Tarrlok says that he did not want to be Yakone's son anymore. Keep this in mind through the two times Tarrlok is compared to someone. Firstly, in "The Voice in the Night", Tarrlok mentions Aang's campaign against Yakone, and Tenzin becomes outraged that Tarrlok would compare himself to his father. What Tenzin doesn't know is that Tarrlok is comparing Amon to his own father. Then, when Korra calls out Tarrlok on being like Amon, this angers him. This is because all his life he has been trying to be unlike his father. So he decided to see his father in the villain he was going after. When Korra compares him to Amon, she is comparing him to his father in Tarrlok's eyes. How much Tarrlok is actually like his father comes down on him in "Out of the Past", when he and Amon re-stage Aang's defeat of Yakone, just like Tarrlok wanted, except Amon was Aang, and Tarrlok was Yakone, the father he didn't want to be.

*Not sure where you're getting this. Tarrlok never says he didn't want to be his father's son, just that he had to disguise/eliminate that connection. He also states that his father failed due to his methods. He's just as ambitious and cruel as his father, and seems to have the same goal, trying to succeed where his father could not.

*It's no wonder Tarrlok would compare himself to Aang- he's trying to outdo his dad, and implicitly the one who had defeated him as well.

*The revelations in the finale actually seem to heavily back this up. The realisation of just how much he has become like his abusive father ends up being one of the things that drives him to Murder Suicide.

And a friend of mine explains why he liked the Amon/Tarrlock connection: http://yourparodies.deviantart.com/journal/Answering-a-question-about-Amon-and-Tarrlok-384411739
 
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matt0044

Well-Known Member

Bariokie

rock dog
Of course I'm the little kid who thinks the plot was greeat :p
Atleast Amon was better then Ozai...

But It'll come in 2014 in the Netherlands tough...
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
Atleast Amon was better then Ozai...

Yeah but I do love an overzealous ruler on his high horse. The insanity they display is delicious.
 

Shneak

this is a Nessa x Sonia stan account ✨
So the Book One Blu-Ray is out, and the creators are really trying to justify Mako. Mako and Asami apparently broke up, but in a very subtle manner. So everything's okay! Nah, I still don't like KorraxMako.

And yeah, Mako's a cop. Lin probably gave him a nice deal even though he doesn't metalbend.
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
Mako was... okay and dislike for him isn't wrong but some of the hate I find overt. More than Korra.
 

Platinum fan.

RetiredPokemonMaster
I guess I don't hang out on Legend of Korra places often. I had no idea Mako was hated XD
 

Cometstarlight

What do I do now?
I guess I don't hang out on Legend of Korra places often. I had no idea Mako was hated XD

I really like the MakoxKorra relationship...but a lot of people don't. Not sure if they outweight the people who do, probably not, but its still a good number of people I see. Maybe it's because they complain the most, I don't know.
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
Assholes are like opinions. Everyone has one and they stink.

Wait...
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
I guess I don't hang out on Legend of Korra places often. I had no idea Mako was hated XD

Neither did I. I knew some people didn't like him (me being one of them), but I think hate is a strong word. The writers didn't do much to make him likable though. I mean he suddenly broke up with Asami and went to Korra and it just seemed really messed up. The entire relationship between Korra and Mako seemed forced, which is why I didn't care for it.
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
The entire relationship between Korra and Mako seemed forced, which is why I didn't care for it.

Well, lucky for Book 2 to perhaps shed more light on the pairing.
 

Vernikova

Champion
Mako broke up with an immensely better character for another character who broke the heart of a likable character. That's the gist of that relationship.
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
Okay, Mako's not a very lovable guy. But from my perspective and given what we know of him, I can kinda get how he is like this. Losing his parents at a young age, being promoted to parent in order to look after his brother like his folks would've, living on the streets like rats, never having a steady job, etc. He can be a jerk but with this is mind, I don't feel like holding that against him entirely.

But, of course, I don't expect everyone to instantly love him (like I could be that persuasive). I'm just saying what I have to say.
 

Shneak

this is a Nessa x Sonia stan account ✨
[IMG139]http://i.imgur.com/Z2KvWNh.jpg[/IMG139]

SDCC 2013 Poster. The art style looks slightly different.
 

fenniken

fire master
shpper where are u mako kiss korra again
 

Shneak

this is a Nessa x Sonia stan account ✨
The first episode of Book 2 will be aired at SDCC tomorrow!
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member

Chapter

hello, im back sorta
Can't wait! Super excited, though, why is Mako a cop (NOT, an earth bender!) and why in hell did both of them leave the Fire Ferrets! That was like the coolest thing!

^

OMG OMG WOAAAAAH
 

matt0044

Well-Known Member
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