Zaryi wrote:
Have a tears/crying headache though, need to go lie down. I need to finish my Korra cosplay even more now T_T
Crybaby.
Fantastique wrote:
I'm a smidge disappointed. I can't shake it. I want to love this finale, but I can't.
Concerns: Amon being the awesome villain he was built up to be, Asami's shitty situation, and the aforementioned deus ex machina.
First, why did they have to make Amon another run-of-the-mill villain after painstakingly making him one of the best baddies ever seen? I was even beginning to sympathize with him! Him being a bloodbender didn't make me go "AMG NO WAI", rather it was more like "...really?" And how about an explanation as to why he wants no benders in the world? Why even start the Equalist movement in the first place if he himself is a bender and didn't get his face melted off/family murdered by a firebender?
Second, why was it okay for Asami to be buttfucked this whole time? She loves Mako, but his heart belongs to another. Okay, fine. But why go about it like a coward? And how is she okay with it? Seemed unrealistic, as most women would not stand for it (women who are worth a damn anyway, as Asami has proved herself to be).
Finally, why take the last 2 minutes of the show and try to make a nice happy ending? Do not like. What kept me wanting to watch was the fact that it always seemed that the characters were getting their asses kicked (the people with the powers were actually losing for once) and episodes were ending on dark notes. THAT'S what made it so intriguing, so thought-provoking. I was really upset that Korra had lost her bending, but in a good way. Now where are they going to go from here? I know I know, I was asking myself that question when ATLA ended too, but still. This book was called Air, and rightfully so because she was trying to learn airbending. That was the perfect setup for the next season(s), as they could have been about her re-learning the other bending arts. It could have been different from ATLA, like no world travel and whatnot, while dealing with some new threat. Yeah, I know, it's predictable. But anything is better than a two-minute hodge podge happy ending.
The episodes weren't bad, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them. But I won't be rewatching this finale over and over as I did with Sozin's Comet. Perhaps this could have been alleviated with a 4 part finale? Idk. I hope the release information on the next season soon.
Spoilers: it's rated Y7 and it runs on Saturday mornings. It's going to have a happy ending.
With all the shit Bryan and Michael managed to get past the radar (there's a friggin'
murder-suicide in the finale) in the first place, I don't have much to complain about. That Amon was a bloodbender was pretty much the only internally-consistent explanation for him resisting Tarrlok, for his ability to react quickly to other people, and for his capability to lock others out of bending. It might be a little hypocritical of him to use his bending to remove that of others and accuse them all of being tyrants, but think where he was coming from: his father forced him to learn how to torture people inside their own skins, all as revenge against the Avatar. It was a shitty situation, and Amon concluded that bending was the source of everything wrong with the world. He's kind of right, too. Yakone was a threat because he could bloodbend. The Fire Nation in the original series tried to
burn down 70% of the planet. Chin the Conqueror in the Kyoshi flashbacks was an Earthbending tyrant. So yeah, his "firebenders batman'd my parents" was a lie, but he needed something to rally non-benders with. And yes, had he succeeded, he would have effectively been the only bender left in the world, but it's possible he'd have the grace not to use it. The point of the scene where he threatens to de-bend the Tenzin and his kids isn't to showcase "mwahaha I am evil," it's to make it clear that there will be no exceptions to the equality.
I kind of agree that Asami got the short end of the stick here, but they're all teenagers. That the lot of them (Mako especially) aren't particularly eloquent about their feelings or possessed of very much self-control when it comes to trying to get together is, if anything, fairly realistic.
As for the ending, at first I thought Korra making the spirit connection was canned. Second time around, what Aang said (when Avatars are at their lowest, the spirits come calling) made a lot more sense. She was gonna fucking jump, man. She was going to force the cycle to continue by killing herself. That she took a step back and didn't off herself is what made Aang decide "all right, she chose life, she's cool enough to be a real Avatar now." And I'm not all that concerned that she can give people their bending back. Aang learned to energy bend at the end of the first series, which could very conceivably have granted bending as easily as removing it. He's her past life, so she can access his knowledge. Problem solved.
