Avatar: The Last Airbender & Korra (SPOILERS)

[Cloud_S]

Re-watched the finale...

Seems the surgeons were really good...

Spoiler

added hair extensions too!

misc caps:

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(makes you wonder if they hadn't been benders, if Yakone would have just lived his life as is....)

 

[Zee]

I still can't get over the fact that Bryke was able to get Nickelodeon to approve of a explicit murder-suicide on a show that is rated Y-7. I have not been able think of another Western Animated TV show that has one in it (that was treated seriously, South Park has done one, albeit it was treated as violent comedy).

how are people so shocked over korra when kids shows like adventure time get way darker/sicker shit through the radar? idk

also coherent finale thoughts now that i feel less bitchy:

Spoiler

i would have been more ok with amon being a bender if korra has legit lost her bending. see, i was kind of pissed he was a fake only because i feel like that was a cop out on the real issue: obviously, a lot of non benders do feel like he does. but then i thought about it and holy shit, how brilliant. here's where all the teachings tenzin has been hammering home for 10 episodes comes into play. talk of patience, focus, using your head and gaining clarity, it's going to click for korra the moment she can't force her way through a situation. nonbender korra is going to take down the equalist leader in brilliant irony FUCK YES--oh wait she went "im babby" and aang felt bad for her so here's all your bending back, and don't bother taking down amon because of some tragic backstory we shoved in 10 minutes

seriously forgive me if i don't give two singular shits about tarrlock and amon's brotherhood/sob story, i have no idea who the fuck they are whoops goodBYE GUYS THANKS FOR EVERYTHING

oh and korra finally learns to airbend! was it because she had a moment of clarity and focus? no, in a moment of rage and panic she fucking airbends

jesus christ.

oh god and do i even need to get into how fucking stupid makkora is? their entire "development" involved them stomping on everyone else's feelings and jerking nice people around while taking minimum responsibility, so congrats i guess. the plot for season 2 would have to be good enough for me to suffer through this trainwreck romance, but since they wrapped everything up into a neat little package in the last five seconds i just have no idea (also lol "i love u korra" "but no im not avatar im babby i cant oh wait im avatar now lets smooching" what kind of MORONIC WRITING IS THIS GOOD GOD)

i think i'm about done with this show. this was just........it was just so terrible. son im dissapoint

 

[Zealkin]

how are people so shocked over korra when kids shows like adventure time get way darker/sicker shit through the radar? idk

I don't watch adventure time, but it is tv PG instead of tv Y, and a lot of the jokes i've seen will usually go over kids heads. A suicidal boat explosion however, will not. I have seen other cartoons do equally dark stuff, doesn't make the presentation any less surprising especially if it's Y7.

i would have been more ok with amon being a bender if korra has legit lost her bending. see, i was kind of pissed he was a fake only because i feel like that was a cop out on the real issue: obviously, a lot of non benders do feel like he does.

Did you honestly think what he was doing was permanent? I was skeptical since episode 3, and even more so when Lin got her bending taken away. No it doesn't erase the problem, they might address the rest of the issue in season 2.

but then i thought about it and holy shit, how brilliant. here's where all the teachings tenzin has been hammering home for 10 episodes comes into play. talk of patience, focus, using your head and gaining clarity, it's going to click for korra the moment she can't force her way through a situation. nonbender korra is going to take down the equalist leader in brilliant irony FUCK YES--oh wait she went "im babby" and aang felt bad for her so here's all your bending back, and don't bother taking down amon because of some tragic backstory we shoved in 10 minutes

What you're saying seems kind of misconstrued to me. Are you saying that Korra's finally breaking of her airbending block wasn't warranted? After 10 episodes of her feeling down on herself feeling alone and thinking she was a horrible avatar? True, airbending isn't about force, but she wasn't trying to force her way out moreso than she was trying to survive. With everything else gone, air-bending was finally a reality for her.
I'm sorry you didn't like the deus ex machina they pulled, but a giant lion turtle doesn't really seem much different.

seriously forgive me if i don't give two singular shits about tarrlock and amon's brotherhood/sob story, i have no idea who the fuck they are whoops goodBYE GUYS THANKS FOR EVERYTHING

okay? So you just didn't like it then. You've hated the pacing for awhile now, did you not expect more of it?

oh and korra finally learns to airbend! was it because she had a moment of clarity and focus? no, in a moment of rage and panic she fucking airbends
jesus christ.

It was a moment of her being out of options, she didn't know what she was even capable of when she did it. Is she going to be calm at any point when there's a war going on anyway?? Asking her to be calm and find clarity seems to be a bit too much for a 17 year old, avatar or not, she's still learning. Aang had the background of being an air-nomad in the first place, being spiritual calm, and lighthearted was taught to him at a young age, Korra did not have this luxury.

oh god and do i even need to get into how fucking stupid makkora is? their entire "development" involved them stomping on everyone else's feelings and jerking nice people around while taking minimum responsibility, so congrats i guess.

oh well, i guess we each have our own way of interpreting it. I saw it as dumb teenagers being dumb, reminded me of some crappy reality shows/soap operas, to each her own i guess.

the plot for season 2 would have to be good enough for me to suffer through this trainwreck romance, but since they wrapped everything up into a neat little package in the last five seconds i just have no idea (also lol "i love u korra" "but no im not avatar im babby i cant oh wait im avatar now lets smooching" what kind of MORONIC WRITING IS THIS GOOD GOD)

Does the romance really ruin the entire show for you? It's not as integral as the rest of the plot. Calling all of the shows writing, due to a lapse of execution of the love triangle, moronic, is a bit of a stretch considering there was so many other things going on.

i think i'm about done with this show. this was just........it was just so terrible. son im dissapoint

Are you disappointed because your expectations were too high, or because the way things played out wasn't the way you wanted? Because it sounds like a bit of both. Either way you seem to be placing a lot of misplaced anger on a sequel we didn't even have to have. Sure it wasn't/isn't perfect, but what were you expecting? I know there are a lot of things available to criticize and with good reason since the atla was so good, but I don't thinks it's worth getting so worked up about it if you can't enjoy what we've been given. If you just hated the show from start to finish that's another story however.

 

[Zee]

god KORRA SPOILERS EVERYWHERE IN THIS POST BE WARNED

Did you honestly think what he was doing was permanent? I was skeptical since episode 3, and even more so when Lin got her bending taken away. No it doesn't erase the problem, they might address the rest of the issue in season 2.

I figured Amon was a big liar, but I figured even if what he was doing was permanent, Korra would eventually learn spiritbending to help people out. The fact that she learned it in five seconds was just. Well there goes any dramatic tension.

It doesn't erase the problem but it certainly undermines it, which can be fixed in season two if they bother to start worldbuilding.

Are you saying that Korra's finally breaking of her airbending block wasn't warranted? After 10 episodes of her feeling down on herself feeling alone and thinking she was a horrible avatar? True, airbending isn't about force, but she wasn't trying to force her way out moreso than she was trying to survive. With everything else gone, air-bending was finally a reality for her.

But that's mostly conjecture on your part. Objectively all we see is Mako in a compromising position, Korra panics and freaks out, and bam airbending.

Keeping Korra's bending on lockdown would have been completely warranted because she is a bad avatar. A Voice In the Night was such a good episode because it touched on this -- she knows nothing about being an avatar outside of using force to get what she wants, and in that episode she was humbled and it opened up a part of her spiritual side. And it's not like she learned the first time because she gets caught again by Tarrlock (which is good! because development is gradual) but when she finally fucks up the worst is when we should really get into what makes the avatar who she is. Her despair and sudden self loathing when she got her bending taken away is not something that should have been rewarded. Strip her of her bending and usual method of force and we can finally get somewhere with her character, with her role, with why republic city needs her so much.

But we don't get any of that. Her self pity is rewarded with a freebie avatar state. I can't feel good about any of this because there's literally no tension in any of these scenes; I barely get accustomed to the idea of Korra without bending when she magically gets it back again.

It was a moment of her being out of options, she didn't know what she was even capable of when she did it. Is she going to be calm at any point when there's a war going on anyway?? Asking her to be calm and find clarity seems to be a bit too much for a 17 year old, avatar or not, she's still learning. Aang had the background of being an air-nomad in the first place, being spiritual calm, and lighthearted was taught to him at a young age, Korra did not have this luxury.

I don't think Korra should have learned her airbending during the war period. tbh, I think the season should have ended with her as a nonbender, but Republic City's true avatar nonetheless. Book 2 focusing on her spiritual side and opening up her airbending just would have made more sense.

Does the romance really ruin the entire show for you? It's not as integral as the rest of the plot. Calling all of the shows writing, due to a lapse of execution of the love triangle, moronic, is a bit of a stretch considering there was so many other things going on.

Honestly? Yes. Because the romance subplot is a complete waste of time that detracts from the plot and the characters. Shit, look at Mako. His character is literally nothing but a compilation of romantic problems. What do we really know about him aside from what's on his business card?

"Only 12 episodes" is not an excuse -- Madoka managed to have a compelling plot, cast, and moving relationships in the exact same span of episodes. There are some series with even less episodes that can do the same. I know Bryke can write. I know they can make some damn memorable characters. I just don't know what happened here.

Are you disappointed because your expectations were too high, or because the way things played out wasn't the way you wanted? Because it sounds like a bit of both. I know there are a lot of things available to criticize and with good reason since the atla was so good, but I don't thinks it's worth getting so worked up about it if you can't enjoy what we've been given. If you just hated the show from start to finish that's another story however.

My problem with Korra is I like it just enough that I'm mad at it. It has everything ATLA didn't have. The production quality is amazing. The world for the most part is established. It had all the set ups for something even better than ATLA and it just...fell flat. Korra feels like a rough draft, not a completed story.

Sure it wasn't/isn't perfect, but what were you expecting?

Worldbuilding. Character development. Characters that didn't just move because of plot convenience. Worldbuilding PLEASE. We don't know anything about Republic City! The entire plot is centered around an Equalist revolution, and we are never told how this schism even started. Korra was the perfect protagonist because she knows next to nothing about this world either. And oh yeah -- politics! In a story about a revolution maybe we could've been shown council meetings that amounted to more than Tarrlock being obviously evil and then Tenzin telling the slow people in the audience "Tarrlock dont do that its evil". Thanks for your input, guy.

Either way you seem to be placing a lot of misplaced anger on a sequel we didn't even have to have.

I don't really like the attitude of "Well be grateful cause we didn't have to have it at all"; I feel like that's a cop out. If it's bad then it's bad, there's nothing misplaced about that -- there's a lot of legit beef with the writing and as fans people have the right to express that.

Korra's a lot like Advent Children, and in the same manner as Nomura, Bryke suddenly acts like they have no idea what happened in their own story or how their world works. I'm not expecting perfection, I'm just asking for a little consistency and awareness of their own lore.

 

[Zealkin]

god KORRA SPOILERS EVERYWHERE IN THIS POST BE WARNED

I figured Amon was a big liar, but I figured even if what he was doing was permanent, Korra would eventually learn spiritbending to help people out. The fact that she learned it in five seconds was just. Well there goes any dramatic tension.

It doesn't erase the problem but it certainly undermines it, which can be fixed in season two if they bother to start worldbuilding.

Aang learns the same thing from a a giant lion turtle, they're both deus ex machinas. The tension was stressed throughout the series, the finale is alleviating the stress with a solution. That solution being Korra learning how to energybend.

But that's mostly conjecture on your part. Objectively all we see is Mako in a compromising position, Korra panics and freaks out, and bam airbending.

It's conjecture that she's been practicing and feeling bad about her airbending block? How? It's been mentioned in almost every episode that she has a block, and in all of the episodes that it was mentioned she tries to work to resolve it, and in some of them like in ep 8 she questions her role as the avatar. That is just what happened, not my interpretation.

Keeping Korra's bending on lockdown would have been completely warranted because she is a bad avatar. A Voice In the Night was such a good episode because it touched on this -- she knows nothing about being an avatar outside of using force to get what she wants, and in that episode she was humbled and it opened up a part of her spiritual side. And it's not like she learned the first time because she gets caught again by Tarrlock (which is good! because development is gradual) but when she finally fucks up the worst is when we should really get into what makes the avatar who she is. Her despair and sudden self loathing when she got her bending taken away is not something that should have been rewarded. Strip her of her bending and usual method of force and we can finally get somewhere with her character, with her role, with why republic city needs her so much.

True she's not the best avatar, but she hasn't even started getting to where she needs to in terms of actually earning that title. Tenzin may have called her that by the end of the episode, but she's obviously not fully realized. Her despair I think was meant to show that she was at her lowest point, that she wanted to end it. It seemed kind of suicidal, especially with the way she was looking down over the cliff. Aang even said "when avatars reach their lowest points, they are open to the most change"(something like that) she was not being rewarded but saved by her past lives. It's true her confidence comes from bending and she has a lot to learn, but she wasn't given her bending back as a gift but because the cycle needs to keep going, she's the avatar and she has work to do. Her spiritual build up did happen a lot with Tarrlok's kidnapping too, so it wasn't that big of a jump, that when she loses her forcefull elements(water, fire, earth) that she gains something else that had been blocked by them (air and spirituality)

But we don't get any of that. Her self pity is rewarded with a freebie avatar state. I can't feel good about any of this because there's literally no tension in any of these scenes; I barely get accustomed to the idea of Korra without bending when she magically gets it back again.

It's not like it was just her feeling bad for herself, but a combination of all she's been through. Again the pacing is something you have said you didn't like before, which is understandable, it's pretty break neck and this was one of those times. I was so psyched seeing aang that I felt the tension, but I can see where you might be disenchanted with it.

I don't think Korra should have learned her airbending during the war period. tbh, I think the season should have ended with her as a nonbender, but Republic City's true avatar nonetheless. Book 2 focusing on her spiritual side and opening up her airbending just would have made more sense.

Well there's little we can discuss about that, it was creator choice, some liked the way things progressed some didn't.

Honestly? Yes. Because the romance subplot is a complete waste of time that detracts from the plot and the characters. Shit, look at Mako. His character is literally nothing but a compilation of romantic problems. What do we really know about him aside from what's on his business card?

Well maybe the romance did distract you a lot from his character, but I saw a lot of Mako's character, and the love triangle shows some of his traits. Perseverance, bravery, his willingness to learn, he's kind of pedantic sometimes, he's protective, some of the negative sides of him being his inconclusiveness and when he jumps to conclusions.

"Only 12 episodes" is not an excuse -- Madoka managed to have a compelling plot, cast, and moving relationships in the exact same span of episodes. There are some series with even less episodes that can do the same. I know Bryke can write. I know they can make some damn memorable characters. I just don't know what happened here.

But stuff that with the kind of plot we were given, and there's a problem. What made atla memorable was not always the serious plot driven episodes to me, but the episodes where meandering and free exploration was given to the characters, those episodes gave me more insight on them then the season finales. LOK didn't have that, but the characters didn't completely die out to me, I thought Asami's character arc was pretty well done, while characters like Bolin did need more interaction and spotlight however.

My problem with Korra is I like it just enough that I'm mad at it. It has everything ATLA didn't have. The production quality is amazing. The world for the most part is established. It had all the set ups for something even better than ATLA and it just...fell flat. Korra feels like a rough draft, not a completed story.

I understand where your coming from trust me I do, as much as I liked the first season, there was a lot more that I wanted. I'm not saying just take what you're given and shut up about it, but that what we were given is pretty sweet despite all of the "defects" it has. I still love the show, and it's not over yet I'm just forward to what's next. ATLA's season wasn't my favorite either, but it did get better as it progressed.

Worldbuilding. Character development. Characters that didn't just move because of plot convenience. Worldbuilding PLEASE. We don't know anything about Republic City! The entire plot is centered around an Equalist revolution, and we are never told how this schism even started. Korra was the perfect protagonist because she knows next to nothing about this world either. And oh yeah -- politics! In a story about a revolution maybe we could've been shown council meetings that amounted to more than Tarrlock being obviously evil and then Tenzin telling the slow people in the audience "Tarrlock dont do that its evil". Thanks for your input, guy.

There is no start to nonbender injustice because it's always been there. Sokka went through it 70 years ago, it never faded, the dissent just kept building. I do admit the series was really plot heavy, but to say there was no character development or world building at all is exaggerating.

I don't really like the attitude of "Well be grateful cause we didn't have to have it at all"; I feel like that's a cop out. If it's bad then it's bad, there's nothing misplaced about that -- there's a lot of legit beef with the writing and as fans people have the right to express that.

I wasn't saying don't criticize it, I'm just saying don't take it for granted, even if it isn't exactly how you wanted it, you still said you enjoyed parts of it right? I just find it hard to believe that a love triangle that was not integral to the plot, completely ruined the show for you.

Korra's a lot like Advent Children, and in the same manner as Nomura, Bryke suddenly acts like they have no idea what happened in their own story or how their world works. I'm not expecting perfection, I'm just asking for a little consistency and awareness of their own lore.

What was inconsistent? In terms of lore that is?

 

[Theozilla]

A pretty awesome "Chakra analysis" of Korra's development as an Avatar from TV Tropes Fridge section of The Legend of Korra entry:

•Stay with me here, because this is a long one and it deserves quite a bit of thought. At first glance, the ending seems overly rushed. Aang almost becomes the Deus ex Machina when he suddenly appears and claims that Korra has connected to her spiritual side out of the blue, before restoring Korra's bending and making her a fully realized Avatar by completing the connection with all her past lives and activating the Avatar State. But when you think of it, there's a LOT that's happened in Korra's spiritual development leading up to this point. Korra's been trying to train spiritually for years and was trained by Tenzin for quite a while, and it was beginning to work very well. Her abilities at the end of Episode 9 was already on par with Aang in season 3 of ATLA. Also Korra's style and personality are like that of Earth, stubborn and unyielding. It's only when she's totally put into a situation where her current approach cannot work, does she suddenly get the hold of airbending and is able to connect with Aang's visions. That is saying a lot about chakras at work in her spiritual and airbending blocks. And speaking of Chakras, that's the key to explain how the ending turned out the way it did. Aang's chakras were blocked by all his experiences and the fact that he had responded in the manner that would lock them up. Korra on the other hand face similar situations but responded in the way that would open them.

•The Earth Chakra was opened when Korra learnt to face her fear of dealing with Amon. The Water Chakra was opened when she was able to overcome her guilt when she got over the love triangle by forgiveness and got them through into the final, though it might have even happened before that when she got the knack of the airbending movements. The Fire Chakra was opened up when she reconciled with Tenzin over her shame of not being able to airbend or being spiritually weak, and when she finally connected with Aang. The Air Chakra was obviously opened by love, and I mean Mako. The Sound Chakra was opened when she understood Tarrlok and Amon's true identities, and Amon building his whole movement on lying over his backstory. The Hiroshi Sato reveal also definitely had something to do with it. The light Chakra was definitely opened when Korra realized she could still airbend, and now had to rely only on airbending. Amon taking away her bending and threatening to debend Mako actually removed her psychological block against it, created by the fact that her mindset was of the Earth type. In fact the same thing can be said about spirituality. Finally the last chakra was unblocked when she was planning to leave everyone and told Mako to leave her for good, despite the fact that both truly loved each other by this point - probably she was contemplating suicide, now that she could no longer do her job as the Avatar and called Aang, likely with the intention of taking her away to the spirit world, which is when she gave up attachment. That's when her spiritual connection became truly complete. While it's difficult to often pinpoint a single incident as the cause of opening her chakras, it's clear that Korra was already very spiritual by the end and had successfully opened all her chakras by her mindset, which despite being the complete opposite of Aang's, actually worked to her advantage and allowed her to access the Avatar state. Then Aang and the spirits of the previous Avatars could manifest at the physical level and use energybending on her to restore her bending.

◦This also makes sense why Korra never went into the Avatar State despite being in danger so often. She had already begun to open her chakras, and until all the chakras were opened, she couldn't enter it.

◦Aang's statement that in her lowest moments, she was open to the greatest change, was just summing up the way she had unknowingly more and more spiritual by life experience. Aang's energybending was the last piece of the puzzle. Now Korra having lost her connection to 3 elements is totally helpless to solve things by her usual badassery and so has had to let go of her pride, the reason for her spiritual block. All this time she had been feeling that she never needed the spiritual side because she had been so Badass, but now she had been humbled and her spirit was malleable to Aang's energybending. All that was left for Aang to do was to energybend Korra to restore her bending.

◦It makes more Fridge Brilliance. Becoming a fully realized Avatar involves mastering both the physical and spiritual sides of bending. The two of them are related and influence each other. Aang could bend with his chakras closed. He was wounded by lightning, and while he could still bend all the elements, he had lost his spiritual connection to all but 4 of his past lives and the Avatar State. He regained it by a purely physical means of having his blocked chi paths opened up by a sharp rock, which spiritually unblocked him. Throughout the series there has been quite a connection between Energybending and the Avatar State, with Aang using the Avatar State to debend Ozai and Yakhone. He was shown to have mastered the Avatar State after he had successfully energybended Ozai. Korra on the other hand, as the opposite of Aang, lost her connection to the physical side of bending, but by that point her chakras were open, she had completely mastered the spiritual side and connected with the spirits of the past Avatars, thus allowing her to master the Avatar State. Aang then uses the Avatar State to energybend Korra at a spiritual level, restoring her physical connection to her elements, making Korra a fully realized Avatar. She goes on to restore Lin's bending, and potentially the bending of Amon's other innocent victims.

And it still works even if one does not necessarily interpret the cliff-tear scene as Korra having potential suicidal thoughts and merely her just being at her "lowest point" allowing her to change and accept her new status quo and let go of her pride, thus giving her access to her spiritual side.

 

[looneymoon]

A small reflection on the season as a whole:

I am kind of disappointed with the series because we were promised a more mature version of Avatar. Which to me meant that this show would follow the gradual increase of quality that the three seasons of ATLA had.

But then we have really??? Odd pacing and terrible plotlines and some really good episodes followed by some really horrendous episodes and it's like

As much as I liked Avatar, it didn't have perfect writing either. But it did get phenomenally better as the series went on. You really got to see how much Bryke grew as writers.

With Korra is seems like a huge retrograde? I feel like there's a lot less thought and love put into the world and characters of Korra. As such it comes across as a much more juvenile show. I think Zee said it best when she described it being more like a preliminary draft of a show than something really refined.

meh I will get into more specifics later if I cba blu hb lhub hlub.

 

[Theozilla]

This made me laugh (apparently the Penny Arcade guys watch LoK):

 

[Carlie]

That's a very accurate depiction of Mako.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

okay i

i realize i don't like mako. i know i just don't. he upsets me a good deal. what i am trying to figure out is what i am missing out on that should make me like him as a character. what did i miss out on? was he intended to be a polarizing character? should i sympathize with his teenage immaturity despite the fact he's at an age that most people would consider him an adult? i know in the very early episodes i was so-so with makorra and would have been fine with them getting together. now i am practically beating my head into the wall with his shift from 'korra isn't girlfriend material' in episode 5 to 'I LOVE YOU KORRA' in episode 12.

what i assume is that he'll get more sympathetic in later seasons because at this point i am just not sure why i should like him as a character.

 

[Theozilla]

okay i

i realize i don't like mako. i know i just don't. he upsets me a good deal. what i am trying to figure out is what i am missing out on that should make me like him as a character. what did i miss out on? was he intended to be a polarizing character? should i sympathize with his teenage immaturity despite the fact he's at an age that most people would consider him an adult? i know in the very early episodes i was so-so with makorra and would have been fine with them getting together. now i am practically beating my head into the wall with his shift from 'korra isn't girlfriend material' in episode 5 to 'I LOVE YOU KORRA' in episode 12.

what i assume is that he'll get more sympathetic in later seasons because at this point i am just not sure why i should like him as a character.

Well, the reason why Mako appeals to many people as a written character is because his flaws are written very realistically and while he makes many mistakes in the relationship field it is often because he is motivated by trying please everyone at once. So if very realistically flawed characters aren't your thing, he will probably never appeal to you as a character.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

Well, the reason why Mako appeals to many people as a written character is because his flaws are written very realistically and while he makes many mistakes in the relationship field it is often because he is motivated by trying please everyone at once.

a lot of his flaws seem to be romantic relationship based. like korra is stubborn and tries to solve everything by force, those are non-relationship based flaws.

mako's apologies for his flaws just frustrate me cause they're basically non-apologies like 'i am sorry about the circumstances' or 'things got screwed up' rather than 'i am sorry' or 'i messed things up'. i dunno, i think someone should call him out on it and tell him it makes his apologies not seem genuine. maybe in season 2? i think it'd be good character development.

 

[Theozilla]

a lot of his flaws seem to be romantic relationship based. like korra is stubborn and tries to solve everything by force, those are non-relationship based flaws.

mako's apologies for his flaws just frustrate me cause they're basically non-apologies like 'i am sorry about the circumstances' or 'things got screwed up' rather than 'i am sorry' or 'i messed things up'. i dunno, i think someone should call him out on it and tell him it makes his apologies not seem genuine. maybe in season 2? i think it'd be good character development.

Mako's flaws are relationship/interpersonal related in general, so they'll show whether the relationship is romantic or not. And Mako's apologies are genuine, just because he does not use the pronoun "I" 100% of the time in the apologies, does not mean he is shirking his faults or responsibility. Sorry if they don't come across as genuine to you, but they obviously do to the other characters in the show.

 

[looneymoon]

Mako is hardly a well-written flawed character because his flaws don't have and consequence or severity. He hurts every single person around him and gets away with it with no lasting remorse or hell even introspection.

If the show was more self-aware of how much of dick he is then I would appreciate it more. But it just throws his douchery under the rug and gives him a shitty apology scene in hopes that will make the audience like him again. Compare how his wrongs against others are written to Zuko's, or anyone from AtlA who screwed over one of their loved ones. Ofc there is a world of severity in the degree, but that doesn't mean it can't be written with the same sort of depth. Looking at Bryke's writing credibility, Mako comes across as really selfish and shallow and I have no idea what they're even trying to achieve in the show with him. In fact he strikes me as somewhat Gary-Stuish and that's not really a description I throw around lightly.

I've seen better character development on an episode of Glee come on Bryke you know you're doing something really wrong when someone levies that criticism.

 

[Zee]

that tl;dr Chakra analysis seems like a whole love overthought mumbo jumbo to cover up a shitton of plotholes the writers left in their wake.

So if very realistically flawed characters aren't your thing, he will probably never appeal to you as a character.

Was that supposed to be as rude and elitist as it came out? H r m

Either way this doesn't apply to Mako. He's barely a character. Like I said, he's a collection of relationship drama and little else. He's got no character development, he just does things as the plot demands, and the plot mostly demands that he just be a love interest.

WHO ARE YOU MAKO

I JUST DONT KNOW

Mako is hardly a well-written flawed character because his flaws don't have and consequence or severity. He hurts every single person around him and gets away with it with no lasting remorse or hell even introspection.

this. The dude reacts to Asami in ep 10 with the same childish blameshift he does in ep 5 when he gets called out. And he still takes the minimum of responsibility. Does he ever come out and tell Asami the truth, ever? No. He gives her an 'I'll always care for her speech' and leaves her to figure out what he really means. The person who was wronged somehow is responsible for doing the "right thing" and it's such nonsense.

er despair I think was meant to show that she was at her lowest point, that she wanted to end it. It seemed kind of suicidal, especially with the way she was looking down over the cliff. Aang even said "when avatars reach their lowest points, they are open to the most change"(something like that) she was not being rewarded but saved by her past lives. It's true her confidence comes from bending and she has a lot to learn, but she wasn't given her bending back as a gift but because the cycle needs to keep going,

Sorry but I'm going to disagree. I just think the whole scene was problematic. She loses her bending and loses all self worth as a person and just decides WELP FUCK YOU ALL IMMA OFF MYSELF NOW

And instead of the spirits just being like 'hey its cool we're with you' and korra finding and understanding her own self worth even without bending they just literally hand her a way out because the season has to end soon

it's just like

how am i supposed to have any sort of feelings about a scene when we're making leaps in split seconds? i can barely feel anything about korra losing her bending before she gets it back. i can't even feel victorious because it's not like we really saw her struggle without it because her nonbending state lasted for like five minutes tops.

she's the avatar and she has work to do.

Most of the work she has to do is dealing with the politics in republic city. She didn't need bending for that.

There is no start to nonbender injustice because it's always been there. Sokka went through it 70 years ago, it never faded, the dissent just kept building. I do admit the series was really plot heavy, but to say there was no character development or world building at all is exaggerating.

And how do the other kingdoms deal with this? Why is it so heavy in Republic City specifically? How do non benders feel about not having a political voice? Was this why it got so bad? See, these are questions we needed answers to.

There was barely any character development. I wouldn't say none, but there wasn't much either. We know most things about the characters because they have to actually sit there and tell us "I am this that and the other thing" or have Tenzin point out which character is evil rather than the character simply being and letting us know through their actions.

 

[Zealkin]

Sorry but I'm going to disagree. I just think the whole scene was problematic. She loses her bending and loses all self worth as a person and just decides WELP FUCK YOU ALL IMMA OFF MYSELF NOW

It's not like she was actually going to do it, the thought was there however, bending was her self-identity, so much that she was thinking about what she was worth without it.

And instead of the spirits just being like 'hey its cool we're with you' and korra finding and understanding her own self worth even without bending they just literally hand her a way out because the season has to end soon

You really did want to see her go on without bending and see how she would live and thrive without it, but we weren't given that, and there are other ways she can develop besides being a non-bender. This season finale felt like a series finale, but it isn't over, there are other places where she can grow.

it's just like

how am i supposed to have any sort of feelings about a scene when we're making leaps in split seconds? i can barely feel anything about korra losing her bending before she gets it back. i can't even feel victorious because it's not like we really saw her struggle without it because her nonbending state lasted for like five minutes tops.

Yes the pacing itself was a flaw, and everyone viewed it differently. No it wasn't the best way of handling things but I can deal. It kind of reminds me of atla season one finale, everyone's waterbending was lost for like 5 minutes, but as soon as it was lost aang went all avatar state and solved the problem.

Most of the work she has to do is dealing with the politics in republic city. She didn't need bending for that.

It's not just republic city she's dealing with, it's the whole world, and people seeing her only able to bend one of the four elements might have accentuated her feeling that she was a half baked avatar. Maybe bryke just wants to explore a different side of her next season.

And how do the other kingdoms deal with this? Why is it so heavy in Republic City specifically? How do non benders feel about not having a political voice? Was this why it got so bad? See, these are questions we needed answers to.

These are things I want answered too, and hopefully season 2 will do some of that :/ I don't think it will just end with Amon.

There was barely any character development. I wouldn't say none, but there wasn't much either. We know most things about the characters because they have to actually sit there and tell us "I am this that and the other thing" or have Tenzin point out which character is evil rather than the character simply being and letting us know through their actions.

Like I said before showing and not telling took up 3 books of atla and it gave us time to get a hold of every charcter fully. Not having those meandering moments like in atla is what caused the devlopment to seem lacking, if this were the series finale, I would be a lot angrier than I am now, but there are more things to come this isn't the end of the devlopment. I can only hazard a guess that more episodes were ordered after the series/season 1 finale was completed, so there are other things they are going to explore in season 2, characters included.

 

[Zealkin]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=39354

AHHH THE SEARCH FOR ZUKOS MOM!!!! IT'S GOING TO BE IT'S OWN COMIC!!!!!! YESSSSSSS,

Speaking of Zuko's family, what's Azula been up to? Her stay in the Fire Nation mental institution has got to be incredibly interesting.
In "The Search," we'll see what a prolonged stay in a Fire Nation mental institution does to a person.

 

[Elisa Maza]

Beat me to it!

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I squealed when I saw it! FINALLY! We're gonna get our answers!

May I say how happy I am to see the same artist from The Promise? Seriously, his art is Awesome. *0*

And generally about the finale, I have to say this: it was good for what we were given in the whole series: fast-paced ending for a fast-paced story. Yes, if the characters were fewer, or if the episodes were more, things would be better/clearer, but as things are, I have no problems with any of it. IF there's one thing that made me cringe, it was Korra getting her bending back. I'd like to see her being an Avatar with no bending, but with spirituality and wisdom. However, Korra was supposed to be one season only, so they needed things to be complete by the finale, so there.

AND I WANT MORE BUMI IN THE NEXT SEASON.

AND KYA.

AND ZUKO.

Is it 2013 yet?

 

[Zee]

Speaking of Zuko's family, what's Azula been up to? Her stay in the Fire Nation mental institution has got to be incredibly interesting.
In "The Search," we'll see what a prolonged stay in a Fire Nation mental institution does to a person.

I'm just

worried about how they're gonna handle this

I mean just putting this in perspective but Azula was a mere 14 years old and she had a breakdown like most teenagers do I just don't want them to handwave it like "oh she was just a crazy but we fixed it" or some th i n g..........

also where's ty lee

fire ladies.............

However, Korra was supposed to be one season only, so they needed things to be complete by the finale, so there.

this ain't an excuse, man

 

[Theozilla]

that tl;dr Chakra analysis seems like a whole love overthought mumbo jumbo to cover up a shitton of plotholes the writers left in their wake.

Was that supposed to be as rude and elitist as it came out? H r m

Either way this doesn't apply to Mako. He's barely a character. Like I said, he's a collection of relationship drama and little else. He's got no character development, he just does things as the plot demands, and the plot mostly demands that he just be a love interest.

WHO ARE YOU MAKO

I JUST DONT KNOW

this. The dude reacts to Asami in ep 10 with the same childish blameshift he does in ep 5 when he gets called out. And he still takes the minimum of responsibility. Does he ever come out and tell Asami the truth, ever? No. He gives her an 'I'll always care for her speech' and leaves her to figure out what he really means.

I am really sorry, I did not mean to come off as rude or elitist (I can see how my phrasing could have been interpreted that way) it is just my genuine opinion on Mako's character.

It is very obvious that we have responded to the 1st season very differently, I personally find it better than the first A:TLA season, you obviously don't. I think we may just fundamentally react differently to the same stuff so let's just agree to disagree, I guess.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

So if very realistically flawed characters aren't your thing, he will probably never appeal to you as a character.

whoa what is this i

if legend of korra is the pinnacle of realistically flawed characters i am sorry but i do not want to live on this planet anymore. luckily, having read books like the a song of ice and fire series, and having seen better series like madoka and played better games like silent hill, i know this is not the case!

i do like realistically flawed characters: i LOVE a good chunk of them, honestly, characters like sansa stark, alessa gillespie, even homestuck characters like dirk strider and karkat vantas. the thing with mako is i am not even sure what his character really is to decide anything. he loves his brother but only so long as he doesn't tell people that he kisses other women, and he's protective but only so long as he thinks he's in love with the protectee, and he's broody but only so long as he doesn't have to be hotheaded and emotional and

it just didn't come together as a cohesive character for me and just seemed like a jumble of plot induced emotions.

 

[Carlie]

A realistically flawed character was Zuko. I wasn't particularly fond of him in book one but for the most part I understood were his character was coming from, Mako on the other hand is not. He's a flat character that seems to be in the story just to add romantic tension. He's a dick to people, most of the time his apologies are just vague and not directly saying he did anything wrong. The only time that I remember him admitting to being wrong was when he realized Korra was the Avatar and not a fangirl and he said "You're the Avatar and I'm an idiot". I cannot understand why the girls are even remotely interested in him especially Korra, he was a dick to her and never apologized for it, he cheated on Asami with her and never told her and then as soon as things are over with Asami he jumps with Korra and I just love how much he seems to care about Bolin's feelings. Makorra and LT in general is horrible and unbearable to watch, it seems like it was taken out of a fanfiction from 12 year old Avatar fangirl.

 

[looneymoon]

Bolin is like the polar opposite of Mako too in that he is unrealistically perfect.

No seriously there cannot exist a man so perfect.

 

[Theozilla]

whoa what is this i

if legend of korra is the pinnacle of realistically flawed characters i am sorry but i do not want to live on this planet anymore. luckily, having read books like the a song of ice and fire series, and having seen better series like madoka and played better games like silent hill, i know this is not the case!

Again I apologized for my wording, I was trying explain my personal reaction to the character.

i do like realistically flawed characters: i LOVE a good chunk of them, honestly, characters like sansa stark, alessa gillespie, even homestuck characters like dirk strider and karkat vantas. the thing with mako is i am not even sure what his character really is to decide anything. he loves his brother but only so long as he doesn't tell people that he kisses other women,

Mako can be annoyed at Bolin and still love him (I know I get annoyed by my younger sister constantly but I still love her), I don't see how that is a faulty contradiction.

and he's protective but only so long as he thinks he's in love with the protectee,

Mako is protective of anyone he cares about, they are not required to be a romantic interest, Korra and Asami just so happen to be that as well.

and he's broody but only so long as he doesn't have to be hotheaded and emotional and

it just didn't come together as a cohesive character for me and just seemed like a jumble of plot induced emotions.

Mako does have stoic and brooding personality, and thus is generally aloof and indifferent to people he does not know well. But once he gets to know and start caring about a person he loosens up around them.
Because Mako has a controlling personality he can often keep his emotions in check, when he actually does lose control of something or is incapable of having control that is when he does become more hotheaded, frantic and outwardly emotional. That is a very common occurrence in real life as well, people with controlling personalities often become more emotional when they lack the capacity to control a situation.

 

[Theozilla]

A realistically flawed character was Zuko. I wasn't particularly fond of him in book one but for the most part I understood were his character was coming from, Mako on the other hand is not. He's a flat character that seems to be in the story just to add romantic tension. He's a dick to people, most of the time his apologies are just vague and not directly saying he did anything wrong. The only time that I remember him admitting to being wrong was when he realized Korra was the Avatar and not a fangirl and he said "You're the Avatar and I'm an idiot".

Again, Mako's apologies are genuine, just because he does not use the pronoun "I" 100% of the time in the apologies, does not mean he is shirking his faults or responsibility. Sorry if they don't come across as genuine to you, but they obviously do to the other characters in the show.

I cannot understand why the girls are even remotely interested in him especially Korra,

Asami and Korra were likely initially attracted to Mako for similar reasons, they likely found him to be physically attractive and were impressed by his bending (specifically pro-bending), and the show has shown and stated that Mako is a particularly talented firebender (even Amon complemented his skills).

he was a dick to her and never apologized for it,

I am not sure which incident you are specifically referring to, but Mako has apologized to Korra every time he has clashed with her. And again just because they don't come across as as genuine (or "good enough") to you, does not mean they are not to the characters in the show.

he cheated on Asami with her and never told her and then as soon as things are over with Asami he jumps with Korra

Mako did not tell Asami about the kiss because he is a empathetic ditherer, he avoids conflict and will ignore problems, suppress his own feelings, or follow a "You Didn't Ask" policy if it means avoiding awkward conversations because he is trying to spare the feelings of others (which is no doubt bad in the longterm, but is hardly motivated by purely selfishness). Then he did apologize to Asami in episode 11, and he and Asami parted on civil terms. I particularly really liked that scene, it showed real grace for both Mako and Asami (especially Asami). I really don't understand what people wanted out of the break-up. Would some really have preferred it to have been all loud and bitter or something?

and I just love how much he seems to care about Bolin's feelings. Makorra and LT in general is horrible and unbearable to watch, it seems like it was taken out of a fanfiction from 12 year old Avatar fangirl.

What has Mako done that indicates he is deliberately disregarding Bolin's feelings?