Legend of Korra: Book 2 thoughts

Katara, Jinora, Tenzin, Bumi and Kya confront the new world.

I just watched the finale of Legend of Korra and Ive got to say I was pretty impressed. As always a few things got under my skin, but Im sure that is mostly my pedantic nature. firstly I noticed that in the last few episodes Korra and Unalaq, as well as Tenzin, Kya, Bolin, Mako and Desna/Eska were able to Bend in the spirit world. Im going to go out on a limb and assume I missed the explanation as to why this was possible, whereas in previous installments of the Avatar universe humans could only bend in the material world.

Secondly I feel that the events of the finale bring the biggest shift to the avatar world yet, which could either be a curse or a blessing. firstly Korra lost her connection with past avatars for tutelage and wisdom, which has often been called upon in times of need in both installments of avatar. honestly, Im not such a fan of adult Aang anyway, I think he’s  boring, but it could make learning avatar stuff hard with no more Gurus or past avatars. Also when Korra decided not to separate the material and spiritual world, she is not only contradicting the will of every past avatar (and presumably the human population as a whole) but also permanently altered the mechanics of the entire familiar avatar world.

Originally, the Avatar stood for the preservation and separation of the four nations and to act as a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds. First came the unification of the four nations, now this and we are left to wonder; what is the role of the Avatar now? has this revolutionary and technologically advanced age surpassed the need for an Avatar? now that she has lost all spiritual contact with past avatars will she be reincarnated post-mortem, or will the avatar die with her? these thoughts trouble me greatly.

The Legend of Korra is bravely stepping away from the premise of The Last Airbender, to prove its worth as a show independently. but I am missing the characters and setting of TLA all the same. the feudal and mythological charm of TLA have gone, replaced by the steampunk and abolition of the spirit world we can see in the last airbender. One Book remains for Korra, titled ‘changes’. It will obviously be about humans and spirits learning to coexist as they once did, and Im guessing it will tell the story of’ the last avatar’ (AKA Korra) and how she helped create a peaceful world that no longer needs an avatar. I just realised that we havent seen Naga for around 5 episodes, and that Korra and Naga havent met since the early episodes. I hope they stay together in book 3, as I feel the animal guide is very much a part of the avatar experience.