Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance

[Fig]

Boy was this week's episode so slow. I don't mind seeing Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo having some air time within the episode but boy was it destructive in general. All there was bickering. I get it, they are all kids so they are not as mature as Korra but I rather would have enjoyed it better if they work together instead of having their problems lead up to another problem that ultimately leads them to their goal. Even the Meelo moments made sigh simply because the episode was 90% of the time a huge mess. However, I felt really amazed to see Korra bounce back to her normal self. Now it's only a matter of time before Korra and Kuvira meet up.

THE NEW EPISOOOOOOODE. MEELOOOOOOOOOOOO. AIRBENDER SIBLINGSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Toph was amazing as usual. I loved the banter between the airbender kids. The only thing I didn't like is that Korra seems to be all better already. I sincerely hope she's not out of the woods yet, because that's too fast. It's too soon for all the build up they've had. I want her to keep struggling with her demons while she's doing her avatar thing, especially that spirit Korra. We never really found out what that was, anyway. It seemed to be just in her mind, but that spirit could see it, so there's probably more to it than that. At least, I hope so.

I don't know where you have been in the last three books, but that isn't anything different of Korra. We have always see her bounce back to normal in a short amount of time (episode-wise that is) and she was bound to recover eventually. Besides, she has been suffering for more than three years by this point (plot-wise) so I think that's just more than enough time to recover. It's like what Katara said, the mind can be your greatest weapon or your biggest fear and this is true in this episode. Everything was always in Korra's head so naturally the best way to overcome things is believe that they don't exist in the first place. This works even in the real world when one is in an unhealthy situation. My mom and my friend Hector have in extremely sick situations and yet when they decided to believe that they weren't sick despite showing the symptoms, they recovered as early as the next morning and have never been sick ever since. All I'm saying, is that Korra's recovery time, episode-wise, is no different than before as in previous seasons.

 

[Azure Sage]

I don't know where you have been in the last three books, but that isn't anything different of Korra. We have always see her bounce back to normal in a short amount of time (episode-wise that is) and she was bound to recover eventually. Besides, she has been suffering for more than three years by this point (plot-wise) so I think that's just more than enough time to recover. It's like what Katara said, the mind can be your greatest weapon or your biggest fear and this is true in this episode. Everything was always in Korra's head so naturally the best way to overcome things is believe that they don't exist in the first place. This works even in the real world when one is in an unhealthy situation. My mom and my friend Hector have in extremely sick situations and yet when they decided to believe that they weren't sick despite showing the symptoms, they recovered as early as the next morning and have never been sick ever since. All I'm saying, is that Korra's recovery time, episode-wise, is no different than before as in previous seasons.

That's just it, though, it should have been different. What she was going through was far worse than anything else she's faced, so to bounce back just like she always has from that just doesn't seem realistic. I get that she had three years, but she was struggling so much when she met Toph, and still struggling even after getting help from her... She just came out of it too fast. I would be fine with this if she still faces hurdles after going back to Republic City, but if not... It's poor writing, imo.

 

[Fig]

That's just it, though, it should have been different. What she was going through was far worse than anything else she's faced, so to bounce back just like she always has from that just doesn't seem realistic. I get that she had three years, but she was struggling so much when she met Toph, and still struggling even after getting help from her... She just came out of it too fast. I would be fine with this if she still faces hurdles after going back to Republic City, but if not... It's poor writing, imo.

The thing is while it could have been different, Korra is a strong-minded person to begin with and there is a few amount of people who suffer perhaps an equal amount of pain that Korra went through and yet can feel like themselves in no time flat. Thus how Korra recovered from this is quite realistic, it's just that not everyone can relate to it. Same how Korra is a person of color and people like myself a lot of people in the Hispanic community who also watch the show can relate to since the majority of his Hispanics actually have that mentality. It's in our blood to be hard workers and to not let anything get in our way. Sure I have suffered from depression myself for the last 11 years, that doesn't stop to pursue my goals to become an engineer or compete in Smash or what have. And Korra is obviously based on that kind of mentality because she's not a patient person. It makes sense for her to recover as soon as possible because it still allows for her to still be in her character.

 

[Fraxinus]

My sister pointed out to me last week that a Toph vs. Kuvira fight would go down so rad. Because... well, think about it: Kuvira takes away her opponents' sight with those strips of metal. That won't hinder Toph at all. Hella. --Also, Ikki is precious and must be protected at all costs.

On a side note, according to an interview with the creators, we now know the name of the new Fire Lord. ALL HAIL FIRE LORD IZUMI! The other highlights (paraphrased) can be found here:

Spoiler

Bless Avatar Wan on Facebook for spreading the word.

 

[Azure Sage]

The thing is while it could have been different, Korra is a strong-minded person to begin with and there is a few amount of people who suffer perhaps an equal amount of pain that Korra went through and yet can feel like themselves in no time flat. Thus how Korra recovered from this is quite realistic, it's just that not everyone can relate to it. Same how Korra is a person of color and people like myself a lot of people in the Hispanic community who also watch the show can relate to since the majority of his Hispanics actually have that mentality. It's in our blood to be hard workers and to not let anything get in our way. Sure I have suffered from depression myself for the last 11 years, that doesn't stop to pursue my goals to become an engineer or compete in Smash or what have. And Korra is obviously based on that kind of mentality because she's not a patient person. It makes sense for her to recover as soon as possible because it still allows for her to still be in her character.

Korra may have been strong-minded to begin with, but that doesn't change how much she was suffering prior to this episode. Her transition didn't feel natural because of that. And what her character is like isn't the point I'm making; her suffering was built up the entire season thus far to be something Korra can't possibly get through easily. But all of a sudden, in one single episode, she goes from suffering to being better. That's what I have a problem with. No matter how strong-minded she is, that's just too rushed. And as I've been saying, I'll be fine with this if she's not out of the woods yet. I can accept her getting better if she's not completely better. And as I brought up in my first post, we still didn't learn entirely what the spirit Korra was. That's another reason why I hope she's not completely recovered yet.

 

[A Link In Time]

This was a very solid episode. While the first half may have seemed like filler at first, it truly drove home the importance of working with others to see one's shortcomings. Toph did a good job of articulating Korra's need to learn from her fears instead of dwelling on the past. Korra's reconnection with her spiritual side at the tree and entering the Avatar state after removing the metal poison from her body were powerful scenes. The camera angles and classic music added a lot to those moments.

While the first half of the book has been somewhat slow, I expect the train to pick up steam next episode and not stop until the end. I think the fruits of Varrick's experiment will be revealed next week (no pun intended). After reading Lemmy's post, I really want to see a Toph vs. Kuvira fight. At least give Toph fight scene of some kind. Old Toph has completely surpassed my expectations, and I need more.

 

[Fig]

Korra may have been strong-minded to begin with, but that doesn't change how much she was suffering prior to this episode. Her transition didn't feel natural because of that. And what her character is like isn't the point I'm making; her suffering was built up the entire season thus far to be something Korra can't possibly get through easily. But all of a sudden, in one single episode, she goes from suffering to being better. That's what I have a problem with. No matter how strong-minded she is, that's just too rushed. And as I've been saying, I'll be fine with this if she's not out of the woods yet. I can accept her getting better if she's not completely better. And as I brought up in my first post, we still didn't learn entirely what the spirit Korra was. That's another reason why I hope she's not completely recovered yet.

I would agree with you that the episode was rushed if it wasn't for the fact that this isn't an Avatar-length season, it's a Korra-length season. If we had 20+ episodes and Korra was able to recover by 1/5 of the season, then yea I would say that it was rushed. However, knowing that Korra will at most have 14 episodes for this season, it makes sense for the pace of specific plots to be completed by a certain amount of episodes. Also I don't think the creators have ever stated that Korra's struggle was primary focus in this season. Sure it's there and is important to the plot, but it isn't as major as say Kuvira and her rule of the Earth Empire that she has created. In all of the advertisements for Book 4 I see when watching Korra online, I see the focus on Kuvira more times than Korra's suffering. That's not to say that it doesn't exist, it totally does but to say that it is the major plot point in the Book 4 is stretching it.

 

[Azure Sage]

I would agree with you that the episode was rushed if it wasn't for the fact that this isn't an Avatar-length season, it's a Korra-length season. If we had 20+ episodes and Korra was able to recover by 1/5 of the season, then yea I would say that it was rushed. However, knowing that Korra will at most have 14 episodes for this season, it makes sense for the pace of specific plots to be completed by a certain amount of episodes. Also I don't think the creators have ever stated that Korra's struggle was primary focus in this season. Sure it's there and is important to the plot, but it isn't as major as say Kuvira and her rule of the Earth Empire that she has created. In all of the advertisements for Book 4 I see when watching Korra online, I see the focus on Kuvira more times than Korra's suffering. That's not to say that it doesn't exist, it totally does but to say that it is the major plot point in the Book 4 is stretching it.

Yeah, Korra's Books are shorter than Avatar's, for sure. That's probably why Book 1's ending felt so rushed. And I get that the creators never said it was the major plot point, but the build up certainly did make it feel like it was gonna have more to it than that. That's what I'm mainly disappointed about. Don't get me wrong, Book 4 is still fantastic thus far. I just think it should've taken Korra longer to get through this. When Book 4 began, my first impression was that it would be a mix of dealing with Kuvira at the same time as Korra getting through her rut. That's how the build up seemed to me.

 

[Sydney]

That's just it, though, it should have been different. What she was going through was far worse than anything else she's faced, so to bounce back just like she always has from that just doesn't seem realistic. I get that she had three years, but she was struggling so much when she met Toph, and still struggling even after getting help from her... She just came out of it too fast. I would be fine with this if she still faces hurdles after going back to Republic City, but if not... It's poor writing, imo.

Korra has been struggling for 3 years, and I don't know if I can stress that enough.

Book 3 took place 2 weeks (iirc) after Book 2, and Korra had to immediately deal with the repercussions of UnaVaatu and the reconnection of the Real and Spirit worlds. She had no time to sit down and recover. Finally, 3 years after a battle she almost lost, she's recovering. She's clearly not going to be 100%, and expecting her to be so is unrealistic. The way Korra's recovery was written was fine, and dare I say it was truly excellent. As evident of Korra's mental state in "Korra Alone", all she needed was some tough love and guidance, and bless Toph for giving her that (and props too Katara to with her physical rehabilitation). She got the poison out, and now she's back on track.

---

I liked the new episode, I really did. It made me a little sad, though, as I feel that it might be the last time we see Toph (unless she finds a way to come in and kick *** later on).

ALSO BRYAN KONIETZKO TOTALLY ANSWERED MY QUESTION

Also some other random things from the Live Chat:

*Ming-hua was born without arms
*Out of the 2 correct questions Bolin asked about Gahzan, the question regarding his mustache was one of the correct answers. The other was left a mystery
*(will post more later, I was going off of memory earlier)

 

[Mask-Salesman]

I still think this season need some more pace. I've just watched the new episode and it had so little relevance in it. TLA had much more episodes each season, so there was time for some goofy episodes. Korra doesn't have that time, which is why episodes like these bother me. I'm the biggest Meelo fan, but I really think they could used the screen time for more relevant things.

I'm really glad Korra has recovered now though. I got my hopes up that the season will 'really start' next episode. I'm gonna miss Toph however, I hope we haven't seen the last of her!

 

[Stitch]

Meelo, we're vegetarians. We don't hunt!

I know dat feel.

On a serious note, I have mixed feelings about this episode. I enjoying getting to know Aang's grandchildren more, but I agree with a lot of other people that there is a pacing issue.

 

[Mask-Salesman]

I know dat feel.
I enjoying getting to know Aang's grandchildren more, but I agree with a lot of other people that there is a pacing issue.

Maybe season 3 set the bar to high? Every single episode was fast-paced and filled with action, without forgetting to give the main characters more depth. This season, in comparison with the previous one, seems unbalanced.

 

[Sydney]

Maybe season 3 set the bar to high? Every single episode was fast-paced and filled with action, without forgetting to give the main characters more depth. This season, in comparison with the previous one, seems unbalanced.

I would argue in this Book's defense that they have to deal with the issue of a time gap. Previous time gaps were relatively minor, however this time it's major. Everyone needs a bit of explaining as to where they are now and how they got there, and the least I can say is that they're tying it all together so it's not random bits of information.

 

[Fig]

Boy was this week's episode building up a lot of tension and set up for the rest of the season. While it's sad that Asami still hasn't been part of the action yet, at least the amount of time she was given for this episode was put into good use as she tried to have a stable relationship with her father like they had in the first half of Book 1. I'll be honest, I'm quite worried for Korra when she is eventually going to face Kuvira in battle but the true focus on this episode was on Varrick on Bolin. These two not only learned what Kuvira really does and her true actions, but they are going to have quite the mountain to climb if they are going to assist Korra and the entire city of Zaofu from being taken away by Kuvira's clutches. What really opened my eyes in fear was Zhu Li's betrayal to Varrick. Looking back, it was really only a matter of time before Zhu Li would snap from Varrick's constant orders and actions he made her due and now that time has come. I really don't know what to expect for next week's episode except that more bonds between people will be tested.

 

[Azure Sage]

This week's episode was great. We got to see some nice development between Asami and her father. Hope that gets expanded upon some more. No sign of Prince Wu or Mako this week, though. I hope they'll show up again soon. It's also nice to see Bolin starting to try and do the right thing. And I was happy to see Zhu Li being more than just Varrick's sidekick. She never seemed like her own character until now. I can't wait to see where that goes.

I was a bit disappointed that Korra doesn't seem to be struggling anymore, but I am very happy that it's clear she's no longer the same person she used to be. She said it herself; the old her would've instigated a fight with Kuvira, but she was trying to use words. Despite the fact that I'm a bit unhappy with the pacing of her recovery, I'm very glad to see she's gone through changes as a person because of her suffering. That saved it for me.