- [Kris] This video is brought to you by the Daily PNut.
(upbeat music)
- Hey, what's up, Wisecrack?
Kris here and today we're talking
about The Legend of Korra.
Now there are some pretty mixed opinions on this show.
It tried hard to live up
to the beloved Avatar series and was often successful.
It had excellent characters, inventive action sequences,
and a truly moving finale, but most would probably agree
that it never quite matched its predecessor.
And the reason lies
in its struggle to do what Avatars must do:
Find balance.
We'll explain how in this Wisecrack edition
on The Legend of Korra: What Went Wrong?
Spoilers ahead for Avatar: The Last Airbender
and The Legend of Korra.
- I'm the Avatar, you gotta deal with it!
- And before we continue,
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Now back to the show.
Rather than starting in the original Avatar's era,
Korra shoots us 70 years
into an almost unrecognizable future
We pick up in Republic City,
a thriving, multicultural metropolis founded by Aang.
Most who practice the ancient art of bending
have now fully integrated their talents
into this industrialized world.
A talented few compete in the glitzy world of Pro-Bending
while others just use their skills for crime.
It's a much more complicated world than the one Aang knew.
And as Korra quickly finds, the Avatar can no longer
just come crashing in to save the day.
On its face, this seems pretty interesting.
It complicates the world of the original show,
making space to also complicate its central theme.
And what was that theme?
Balance.
As you may remember,
when the Fire Lord's aggression knocked things out of wack,
Aang's mission was to tilt the scales back
towards equanimity between the kingdoms.
But unlike that relatively dualistic conflict,
Korra's world is full of competing interests,
fraught relationships, festering grievances,
and faulty political mechanisms.
All of which she will need to take
into account to perform her role as Avatar.
- Your job isn't to fix the daily problems
of every person in Republic City.
Your responsibility is to bring balance to the entire world,
and that means, no matter what you do,
some people are not going to be happy about it.
- [Kris] Each season gives us the struggle
of finding balance in a complex world,
whether it's dealing with spirit worlds or warring nations.
But one of the main problems with the series is
that it then struggles to fully reckon
with the conflict it's created,
which is best visualized through
the show's most compelling villains.
See, each antagonist on the show reinforces
the moral ambiguity of Korra's world.
This starts with its first big villain, Amon.
- The Avatar has failed humanity.
That is why the spirits have chosen me
to usher in a new era of balance.
- [Kris] Heading up a group called the Equalists,
Amon is a radical outsider who preaches
against the unequal division of power in Republic City.
He resents the fact that benders are elevated
above the rest by sheer birthright,
relegating everyone else to second class citizenship.
In a sense, he's chafing
against society's imbalanced hierarchy.
Unsurprisingly, his message resonates
with the city's downtrodden,
even as he starts taking increasingly extreme actions,
like attacking a sporting event
and forcibly removing a star bender's powers.
Amon doesn't only challenge Korra physically in battle.
His very philosophy threatens her identity.
Having inherited both her title and her power,
she represents the hierarchy he seeks to overthrow.
While Avatar's ancient, operatic setting
was comfortable celebrating predestined leaders and heroes,
Korra and Amon's battle questions
how power should be distributed in a more modern world.
The conflict asks: How does a society
achieve balance between benders and non-benders?
Until, it doesn't.
Amon is eventually revealed to be a water bender
in disguise, driven by a personal grudge
against his abusive, blood-bending father.
And that message he preached?
It was more about stirring up a ruckus
than agitating for equality.
Because Amon turns out to be a fraud,
his original message evaporates,
and Korra is never forced
to really confront her place in the hierarchy.
With season two, we move on to a new villain:
Unalaq, who strikes even closer to home.
See, Unalaq is both Korra's uncle and the chief
of the Northern Water Tribe,
while her father, Tonraq, leads the Southern.
The two brothers are divided on matters of spirituality.
Tonraq is happy to turn their religious traditions
into commercial events so
that their people can prosper,
while Unalaq sees this as a sacrilegious betrayal
of their heritage.
The question is: can there be a happy balance
between their conflicting views?
This puts Korra in the middle of a struggle
that goes far beyond a family feud.
As the Avatar,
she represents an ancient spiritual tradition,
and must figure out what role it plays in the modern world.
The war between Unalaq and Tonraq is really
about the place we allow the past to occupy in our present,
that is to say,
how do we balance the values of the past
with the realities of the present.
- During the Hundred Year War,
the South was thrown out of balance,
and the lights disappeared.
When the war ended, the North helped
to rebuild physically as a nation.
But we have not rebuilt spiritually.
- [Kris] Until again, it's not.
Unalaq, it's eventually revealed,
is a capital-B Bad Dude who wants
to unleash the spirit world
so he can become a Dark Avatar.
All that stuff
about modern commercialism spoiling tradition?
Again, it recedes into the background.
This time around, Korra does actually find herself wondering
about the bad guy's motivations after the dust has settled.
And she even finishes the season by reopening the connection
to the spirit world just as Unalaq had originally intended.
- What if Unalaq was right when he said the Avatar
shouldn't be a bridge between the two worlds?
What if Avatar Wan made a mistake
when he closed the portals?
What if humans and spirits weren't meant to live apart?
- [Kris] While this seems like
it should be a meaningful conclusion to their conflict,
it doesn't really track
because Unalaq never made much of a case
for why reuniting the worlds would be a good thing,
or even what it would really mean,
and was ultimately way more focused
on becoming a super powerful Dark Avatar.
So it really just seems more
like Korra is letting a gut feeling
decide the fate of their world.
- What do you think I should do?
- I think you should trust your instincts.
There is nothing else I can teach you.
You are the Avatar.
- [Kris] Let's skip ahead to season four for reasons
that will very soon become clear.
Here, Korra faces off
against The Great Uniter herself, Kuvira.
A decorated military commander and world-class metal bender,
Kuvira is enraged at the Earth Kingdom's fall
from power.
Eager to revive the kingdom's glory days,
she begins forcibly re-uniting all its former territories.
Like many real-world populists,
Kuvira weaponizes a vision of her nation's glorious past,
gaining the support of everyone who is angry
at their homeland's downfall,
and eager for someone to blame.
She presents herself as an "ally of the common man",
fighting back against powerful elites
like Korra and Prince Wu,
even as her own actions become increasingly oppressive.
- I learned that the idea
of a royal family passing a title
from one generation to the next was archaic,
and that technology and innovation should be
what drives a nation forward.
- [Kris] It's a neat parable
about how nationalist sentiments are stoked
under the guise of "reclaiming" what is rightfully yours.
And once again it sees Korra forced
to interrogate her own role in everything
as Kuvira leads a crusade
against the inherited power she, as the Avatar, represents.
Kuvira poses important questions:
How should Korra reconcile, that is, balance,
the competing political interests in her world
when things get messy?
Or does she have a duty to remain impartial
and let the Earth kingdom resolve
its own leadership dispute?
But, as with our previous two villains,
this conflict quickly recedes to the background.
Kuvira becomes consumed by power,
unleashing a super weapon that threatens
to destroy the whole of Republic City.
Her populist message about avenging past wrongs
and empowering the oppressed is quickly trampled
underneath a giant mechanical foot.
Once again, Korra isn't fully forced
to balance the implications of her inherited powers
and elevated status.
Nor does she ultimately need to find balance
in the conflicting worldviews around her.
She just lays the smack-down on another super-villain
and takes a bow.
All three of these big bads are set up
to make for compelling villains
with motivations that are understandable
and even sympathetic.
And, better yet, they offer a perfect route
for the show to continue one
of the primary thematic through-lines of Avatar:
the concept of balance.
Each conflict in Avatar was really
about this quest for harmony.
Each character was trying to reckon
with the parts of themselves that were at war,
like Zuko's shame and pride, Katara's desire
for revenge, and Aang's fear of disappointing his friends.
The show's idea
of "balance" loosely blends Eastern philosophical traditions
and modern-day psychotherapy.
When we see Aang working to unblock his chakras
with Guru Pathik, we're basically watching him
on the couch, undergoing therapy,
delving into his most painful memories
and greatest fears so that he can overcome them.
- [Guru Pathik] The Air Nomads' love for you
has not left this world.
It is still inside of your heart,
and is reborn in the form of new love.
- [Kris] Balance is the through-line of Avatar.
But, in the sequel series, the attempt
to perpetuate this theme starts to flounder
as each antagonist eventually becomes straight-up evil.
Their passions, yes, become "unbalanced"
but not in any interesting way.
Rather, they seemingly abandon the concerns
which impelled them to power in the first place.
This reduces Korra's task to beating them down
rather than confronting the issues they embody.
And when these issues, equality, heritage,
commercialism, and democracy, are so interesting
to begin with, the choice feels like kind of a cop-out.
When Korra asks how her antagonists strayed so far
from their righteous intentions,
she's given a simple answer
by her surly, swamp-dwelling mentor, Toph.
- What did Amon want?
Equality for all.
Unalaq?
He brought back the spirits.
And Zaheer believed in freedom.
- I guess...
- The problem was, those guys were totally out
of balance and they took their ideologies too far.
- And while it makes for a neat line,
this explanation isn't really satisfying.
Amon and Unalaq didn't so much "take their ideology" too far
as they did abandon it altogether.
Ultimately, they pursue selfish goals involving revenge
and evil spirit powers.
Meanwhile, Kuvira simply becomes the very sort
of tyrant that she was supposed to be fighting.
It devolves from a complicated question of balance
to a simplistic story of good versus evil.
This leaves the actual issues they brought up,
and Korra's role in them, totally unresolved
at the end of each season.
Important questions go unanswered, like:
What does it mean to live in a world
where power is doled out so arbitrarily and unequally?
And how much right does she have to use her power
to intervene in conflicts that have nothing to do with her?
Generally, The Legend of Korra uses
its multifaceted modern world
to set up all these moral dilemmas
and then sort of mumbles its way through the answers,
eschewing genuine critique and leaning
into Korra's presumed, perfect heroism.
And while it's certainly fun to watch,
it also falls a little flat.
Even when Korra empathizes with Kuvira-
- I may not have been an orphan,
but believe me, I understand what it feels like
to be afraid.
- [Kris] Or reconsiders Unalaq's argument,
it doesn't actually change
the way she ultimately vanquishes them.
That is to say, the knowledge she gains
never helps her defeat the bad guys.
That's not to say the show is disappointing
in its treatment of antagonists across the board.
(explosion sound)
- [Kris] It does manage to follow through on one occasion,
creating its most compelling villain
in season three with Zaheer.
He provides Korra with a dark reflection,
interrogating her identity as the Avatar
and the very concept of balance that it's founded upon.
He does so not by disagreeing with her,
but by taking this idea to its nihilistic extreme.
- I want what you want.
To restore balance to this world.
- I don't think our ideas of balance are the same.
- Like his fellow bad guys,
Zaheer has an axe to grind with the current world order.
He sought to overthrow the rulers of the world
so that everyone could be free.
We catch up with Zaheer years after his failed attempt
to kidnap the Avatar.
After years spent meditating in prison, he emerges
with some newfound air bending abilities
and a zen-like philosophy.
Zaheer's character isn't merely political.
He's also motivated by a personal belief
that true freedom lies in detachment
from the material world.
He aims to achieve this enlightenment,
and wants everyone else to as well,
specifically by freeing themselves from all social bonds.
This ethos, especially delivered
in Zaheer's monk-like monotone, rings eerily close
to the teachings Aang himself received.
As both an air bender and the Avatar,
Aang was less tethered to the material world
than those around him.
This perspective kept him neutral,
making it easier for him to keep the peace.
But in the moment where Zaheer achieves his own form
of spiritual detachment, we see clearly
how different his philosophy is from the Avatar's.
After watching the woman he loves get brutally murdered,
Zaheer loses his last emotional tie to the world
around him.
- Flee!
- [Kris] Now, completely untethered,
he unlocks a talent previously consigned
to air bending legends
and floats freely into the air.
Here, we learn that the true source of Zaheer's power
is how little he cares.
To him, balance means a total lack of concern
for everyone else.
- Empty and become wind.
(heroic music)
- No, stop!
(suspenseful music)
- [Kris] Rather than allowing him to act
as a force for impartial justice,
Zaheer's complete detachment renders him
an instrument of chaos.
He wants to tear down governments not
to build more compassionate structures in their place,
but to create a state of total disorder.
His idea of balance is based upon a total detachment
from all forms of connection, envisioning a world
in which everyone is free to do whatever they like
while calling this balance.
This is the complete opposite of the Avatar.
While Avatars might pride themselves
on extending sympathy to all,
and learning to see both sides of an argument,
they will ultimately still feel morally compelled
to pick a side.
When the Fire Nation began its rampage,
Aang could have just remained impartial,
claiming neutrality in the name of unity.
But he didn't, because one side was clearly wrong
and the other needed his protection.
For all his training, Aang remained grounded
by his compassion for and connection
with other human beings.
And by following his example,
Korra is eventually able to defeat Zaheer.
Even in his transcendent state,
the villain is no match for the combined might
of Korra and all her loved ones.
Here, being connected to others is a strength.
In their final throw down,
Korra and co. directly challenge the idea
that rising above earthly conflict
is necessarily the most high-minded
or fair way to go.
Zaheer's rhetoric is often compelling
but without a humanistic foundation,
it's just an excuse to abandon the duty we have
to each other.
It's a highly-intellectualized selfishness,
dressed up as freedom.
Especially in an era as complicated as Korra's,
keeping the world in balance means remaining tethered
to it by compassion for others.
In a blistering season three finale,
the show actually fulfills its original promise:
embracing the complexity of its more modern setting
and forcing Korra to decide what being the Avatar means now.
Just as Republic City sits in the shadow Avatar Aang,
The Legend of Korra had a massive legacy
to live up to thanks to the beloved bald child
who came before.
And it's ambitious about it too,
moving the Avatar's peace-making mission
to a far more fraught and fractured era.
That said, it often struggles to fully reckon
with all that this entails.
Still, in its best moments, Korra is driven
by the same philosophy of balance which drove Avatar,
a creed which always values compassionate action
over useless impartiality.
So what do you guys think?
Was Korra fit to carry on Aang's legacy,
or did all that talk of Harmonic Convergence
have you tearing your hair out?
Let us know in the comments.
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and don't forget to ring that bell.
And as always, thanks for watching.
Peace!
(upbeat music)