Avatar: Legend of Korra, s4

[extrapenguin]

Well. First of all, I did not like the large focus on Korra's trauma journey and her getting beat up. It also brought clear all of the shortcomings of the previous seasons: too much Meelo, too much Mako, Korra getting beat up severely and losing a bit too often, too short seasons so the endings always feel rushed (LOK would've worked better as two 26-ep seasons). Things this season introduced that I disliked: Korra's haircut.

Things I liked included everything Toph, Lin kicking ass, Kuvira as a competent villain, the final Korra-Kuvira fight in the control room, and the teamwork of the finale was more ... believable, in a way, and less "oh but Korra can't defeat the villain for Reasons despite the fact that y'know Avatar state exists". Also, the bit at the very end where she saves Kuvira? That. Yes, that. Guess who's a Korra/Kuvira shipper now, ahahaha. The new spirit portal in Republic City is very intriguing, and I kind of want some future Avatar series to come back to it – though only if they dedicate over 20 eps per plot arc. The Korra/Asami ending was very extremely understated, which, well, but still.

I think this show goes into the "love and also loathe" place. I generally don't write fic for non-book canons, but reading is a thing. Also, since this is audiovisual, fanvids! FFA has recced this one with Toph and Lin Beifong earthbending and a mainly-Korra vid set to "Monster" (which is an excellent choice of song, given what happens to Korra later). Other discoveries include Lin Beifong competence porn to music (ft. about as much Lin/Tenzin as I can take), Season 4: Korra going down in history, Korra and her demons, about 10% of the Avatar state no-holds-barred curb stomp I always wanted, another one with a similar premise, though this time with the Equalists, and s1 Korra going around pwning people.

So, rec me things! Vids, art, fic, anything. I really like bending/fighting displays of competence, esp from Korra and Lin Beifong. I also like Kuvira, Toph, and Asami, plus the idea of Amon (I really didn't like the "he was knowingly a bender all along!" thing; anything where he isn't/does not know he's a bender is fine – so eg "Amon is a desert kid who accidentally figured out bloodbending and how to de-bend people but did not realize this was bending" is A-OK, but the canon backstory is meh). NOTPs include Mako/anyone, Lin/Tenzin, all of Bolin's onscreen romances, and Kai/Jinora. I'm not interested in Suyin or Unalaq.

(And because I know you're interested, rankings are: Seasons go 4>3>1>2, villains go: idea of Amon > Zaheer = Kuvira > actual Amon > Unalaq. I most like Korra's biceps and bulky physique, Lin Beifong the BAMF who metalbends her uniform on, and Kuvira with her hair disheveled.)

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

I still haven't finished season 4 (I should get on that at some point), and our opinions don't entirely coincide (I like Bolin more than you do, and Amon's backstory, although I like your alternate idea of it -- unintentional bending -- too). But we definitely agree on enjoying Kuvira as a competent antagonist, Unalaq being the least interesting villain of all, and Lin being a BAMF :)

[extrapenguin]

I'd like Bolin more if he was involved in plots beyond cringey romance, I think.

With Amon, it's that I like my villains principled and obeying those principles: bloodbender Amon who knows he's a bender is a bit too much "I wants unlimited powah!!!" motivation-wise; I'd rather have an actual spirit or a bloodbender who doesn't know he's one. I find hypocrisy a bit ... overdone? in villains. I much prefer people who live by their cause. Unknowingly a bloodbender Amon would also have a nice not-quite-cosmic justice thing, and the whole realizing his ideology is built on a lie would be more interesting than the whole "Amon is now an object of pity" thing was. It might also have made for a more interesting ending, depending on how the mental breakdown would've played out.

[hamsterwoman]

Yeah, I wish there'd been more than cringe-y romance for Bolin, because I like him in other contexts (his friendship with Korra, everything about his family stuff) but the romance was either offputting or, best-case, boring (also the movie star thing; that was bad, too).

My very favorite villains are definitely ones convinced of the rightness of their cause, yeah, which is why I like Kuvira and the idea of Zaheer best (actual Zaheer got a bit too maniacal for my taste). But I can also appreciate a villain who preys on prejudice and manipulates public opinion. Those are not the sort of villains who end up as my favorite characters (which does tend to happen with the more 'righteous' villains), but it can be interesting in its own right, too. (I still think s1 LoK vastly mishandled the whole plot, so I wouldn't say this show managed it particularly well. But the idea could've worked for me.)

[extrapenguin]

Yeah, he's good friends with Korra, and I liked him saving the day in that s2 ep. The family stuff wasn't my cup of tea, but that might've been Mako. (I don't think I ever forgave him for his s2 assholery.)

Was actual Zaheer's tipping point for you the point where he went from "let's get rid of all the corrupt governments" to "let's kill the Avatar"? I can understand why he'd lie about wanting to kill Korra, but having him just want to brainwash her to assassinate state leaders would have been more interesting, albeit harder to pull off well.

I don't mind villains who manipulate public opinion or are prejudiced, as long as they share that prejudice and aren't self-loathing members of [group targeted by prejudice]. How'd you have handled s1's plot?