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Xun posted:Man I sure am sad that after the Dai Li lose the Queen and a squad of dudes they can't take out some peasants. Remember when they were awesome? Baron Bifford posted:According to some stuff I read on a Nickelodeon website, the Dai Li were created specifically to stop this sort of thing. The Dai Li weren't created to fight peasant rebellions; they were created to prevent them from ever happening, which they did, very effectively, for hundreds of years. They watched the city, captured dissidents and imprisoned or 'reeducated' them before they could become threats. The Red Lotus coming in and straight-up murdering the Queen and sending the entire city into a riot was not something they could have predicted or stopped with their current methods. They're earthbending ninjas, designed for secrecy and subterfuge, not open war.
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Aug 7, 2014 16:56
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I feel like a broken record, but that was a really good episode.  Also Nick's censors still loving baffle me. So it's okay to show the Earth Queen literally suffocate to death, eyes bulging out and all as Zaheer airbends the oxygen out of her, but we still have to say things like "the Earth Queen has been taken down?" I think a six year could put two and two together at this point. Also completely unrelated, but the stereotypical Earth Kingdom Captain guy was the greatest. "Captain, have we been in the desert too long, or is that a dragon over there?" "...No, let's go get a drink."
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Aug 7, 2014 17:27
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Are the spoiler gifs all from the new episode? Yes or no question, no spoilers.
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Aug 7, 2014 17:48
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^Yes. Also, the censors really are hilarious. Zaheer: "Freedom is just as essential as air, and without it, there is no life. There is only... DARKNESS." AshB fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 17:50
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AshB posted:^Yes. Yeah I remember that line clearly. Seriously, he just loving fragged the Earth Queen, he can't say "Death" just this once?
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Aug 7, 2014 17:55
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AshB posted:^Yes. That too. It particularly stood out because of how slow Zaheer talked. I had already completed the line in my head with "death", only for him to say "darkness" instead, and it was pretty jarring.
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Aug 7, 2014 17:59
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It's particularly strange because Adventure Time uses that language pretty freely. What's up Nick's butt about it?
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Aug 7, 2014 18:02
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Oh man - I got spoiled on THE key moment of this episode before realizing the new one had leaked. I figured someone's just spoilering the previous episode just to be safe.  Nonetheless - great episode, once again! There were so many little moments in this one, and most notably, many belonged to Zaheer & gang. They're such great antagonists, with a really good motivation to boot. And most of all, they just seem too non-crazy to pull an Amon or Unalaq. I really loved Ghazan's little banter with Bolin. You're a cool dude, Ghazan, and I hope this show ends good for you.  Also, punching back each of the Dai Li's stone hands individually was kickin' rad.I'm really curious how the finale will look with these fellows. I can totally see a non-violent showdown (at least between Zaheer and whoever he's confronted by). I expect Tenzin and the new airbenders will play a big part. All is well as long as Zaheer doesn't go super evil in the end - and given ALL of his behaviour so far, that seems very unlikely, which is great! I'm curious if he'll try the suffocation move again at some point; I'm not saying it's an overpowered move - after all, performing it looks like a rather involved affair that might not be possible in an active battle -, but it seems just too noteworthy to just drop it. Korra's part in this episode was good too. Sorry, you're overshadowed by the villains...
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Aug 7, 2014 18:14
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Well that was loving awesome.
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Aug 7, 2014 18:18
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I imagine there was a moment where Nick was like look, either you get to show any of it, or you get to use the words "kill" and "die." Choose.
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Aug 7, 2014 18:31
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Torquemadras posted:There were so many little moments in this one, and most notably, many belonged to Zaheer & gang. They're such great antagonists, with a really good motivation to boot. And most of all, they just seem too non-crazy to pull an Amon or Unalaq. I really loved Ghazan's little banter with Bolin. You're a cool dude, Ghazan, and I hope this show ends good for you. Seriously, these guys are so likable. I loved the scene where Bolin asks them how boring it was to be imprisoned for so many years. You know if somebody like Amon or Unalaq had been asked that question, they would have said something grimdark like "I wasn't bored, I spent every waking moment PLANNING MY VENGENCE!" Instead, we get Ghazan and Mingwa all "Oh man, you have no idea. I've lost count of how many times I counted all the stars..." And as everybody has said before in the thread, the dynamic of having a group of villains who are actually genuine friends is incredibly refreshing.Edit: Oh drat, I didn't even realize Hedrick wrote this one! What else can I expect from the man who brought us The Ember Island Players?
Sydin fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 18:32
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There were a bunch of little moments like that. Like that guy in prison who hadn't seen his wife and kids for four years. "It was great for the first few months, but now I really miss them." Phenomenal job by episode writer Tim Hedrick, who wrote some of the best episodes of the original series.
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Aug 7, 2014 18:36
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Sydin posted:I loved the scene where Bolin asks them how boring it was to be imprisoned for so many years. You know if somebody like Amon or Unalaq had been asked that question, they would have said something grimdark like "I wasn't bored, I spent every waking moment PLANNING MY VENGENCE!" Instead, we get Ghazan and Mingwa all "Oh man, you have no idea. I've lost count of how many times I counted all the stars..."
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Aug 7, 2014 19:14
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X_Toad posted:One thing I really liked is how And I wonder which of the two things Bolin guessed were true... the mustache thing feels like the most biologically improbable, so I'm going to rule that one out. I think the hint was that the unspoken attraction thing was true because Ming Hua glanced at Ghazan and then quickly glanced away. Now I feel like a fanfic writer.
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Aug 7, 2014 19:18
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You know I just realized how ingenious it was to have the antagonists be anarchists what with the whole 1920s type setting.
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Aug 7, 2014 20:09
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AshB posted:I think the hint was that the unspoken attraction thing was true because Ming Hua glanced at Ghazan and then quickly glanced away. X_Toad fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 20:18
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I legitimately want the Red Lotus to stick around, some how. I think it's possible Zaheer could be talked into forming his own Air Nation to rival Tenzin's, and P'li will probably just do whatever he does. The other two also kind of seem like they're ultimately just following Zaheer too, and would probably back down if he's convinced. It'd be neat to have them all exist in the background. Hell, they could even try and teach their unique bending to Team Avatar members. Bolin could pick up Lavabending, Mako could grab Combustionbending, and Korra could learn that perma-tentacle thing.
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Aug 7, 2014 20:47
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This was the best episode of Korra, ever, hands down. After last season I'm really glad that we're 10 episodes in and it's not pure poo poo yet. Breath-bending was loving harsh. Coupling that with the cheering of the people being set free, even the show runners are agreeing with Zaheer.
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Aug 7, 2014 20:48
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Punc posted:This was the best episode of Korra, ever, hands down. After last season I'm really glad that we're 10 episodes in and it's not pure poo poo yet. I dunno, having rioting and looting break out the instant the news came out about the Earth Queen being offed doesn't really seem to say "Yeah! Anarchy is awesome, gently caress DA POLICE!!!" to me. Also, what happened to Ba Sing Se's regular police force / military? Did they just collapse like the pillars of an evil villain's lair upon death of the final boss?
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Aug 7, 2014 21:01
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RyuujinBlueZ posted:I legitimately want the Red Lotus to stick around, some how. Aren't they the villains for 3 & 4?
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Aug 7, 2014 21:04
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DrSunshine posted:I dunno, having rioting and looting break out the instant the news came out about the Earth Queen being offed doesn't really seem to say "Yeah! Anarchy is awesome, gently caress DA POLICE!!!" to me. Also, what happened to Ba Sing Se's regular police force / military? Did they just collapse like the pillars of an evil villain's lair upon death of the final boss?
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Aug 7, 2014 21:10
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Fried Chicken posted:Aren't they the villains for 3 & 4? Sorry, I mean this specific group of the Red Lotus. I think it's only been implied that the Red Lotus as a whole will be the villains for the rest of the series, but I wouldn't be surprised if Zaheer and gang get taken care of during this season. Even then, I guess having them be in prison again and just cooperating with the Avatar to stop the rest of the Red Lotus would work for keeping them around.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:21
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RyuujinBlueZ posted:I legitimately want the Red Lotus to stick around, some how. I think it's possible Zaheer could be talked into forming his own Air Nation to rival Tenzin's, and P'li will probably just do whatever he does. The other two also kind of seem like they're ultimately just following Zaheer too, and would probably back down if he's convinced. It'd be neat to have them all exist in the background. Hell, they could even try and teach their unique bending to Team Avatar members. Bolin could pick up Lavabending, Mako could grab Combustionbending, and Korra could learn that perma-tentacle thing. I doubt that. I could see Mingwa and Ghazan chilling out; they do seem like they're more following Zaheer than his ideology. But Zaheer so far has been shown to be very extremist in his views, and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his anarchic goals. The only thing that would stop him is death or imprisonment, and if either of those happened P'li probably wouldn't be happy either.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:26
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Genocyber posted:I doubt that. I could see Mingwa and Ghazan chilling out; they do seem like they're more following Zaheer than his ideology. But Zaheer so far has been shown to be very extremist in his views, and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his anarchic goals. The only thing that would stop him is death or imprisonment, and if either of those happened P'li probably wouldn't be happy either. Can't even go the aang route and take away his bending, he was a huge threat even before he had it
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Aug 7, 2014 21:28
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DrSunshine posted:I dunno, having rioting and looting break out the instant the news came out about the Earth Queen being offed doesn't really seem to say "Yeah! Anarchy is awesome, gently caress DA POLICE!!!" to me. Also, what happened to Ba Sing Se's regular police force / military? Did they just collapse like the pillars of an evil villain's lair upon death of the final boss? The Dai Li is a secret police force, not exactly equipped to deal with the whole city rising up. As for the military, we really don't have a good idea of the time frame between Zaheer offing the Queen and Korra hearing about the anarchy in Ba Sing Se. For all we know it's only been an hour or two, and the military at large may not even be aware of the whole situation yet, let alone have had time to formulate a plan for restoring calm. The Earth Queen also doesn't exactly strike me as someone who'd be keen to talk about succession, so there's probably also nobody readily available to slot into power without pissing everybody off.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:30
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I'm honestly worried how the show will resolve this without Korra and co looking like lovely authoritarians, I was pretty much cheering for Zaheer the entire time.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:34
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Fried Chicken posted:Aren't they the villains for 3 & 4?
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Aug 7, 2014 21:40
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achillesforever6 posted:You know I just realized how ingenious it was to have the antagonists be anarchists what with the whole 1920s type setting. I don't even remember if season 2 had the same sort of soundtrack, but I noticed that in the last few episodes, it's getting back to season 1 type of 1920's music and I really enjoy what it brings in terms of feeling to the world they built for Korra.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:43
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Neo_Crimson posted:I'm honestly worried how the show will resolve this without Korra and co looking like lovely authoritarians, I was pretty much cheering for Zaheer the entire time. I think that shot of the Earth Queen's bloodshot eyes is supposed to communicate that, even if she had to go, no one deserves to die like that. But then, I've read too heavily into this show before.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:50
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Genocyber posted:I doubt that. I could see Mingwa and Ghazan chilling out; they do seem like they're more following Zaheer than his ideology. But Zaheer so far has been shown to be very extremist in his views, and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his anarchic goals. The only thing that would stop him is death or imprisonment, and if either of those happened P'li probably wouldn't be happy either. I hadn't seen the latest episode yet when I wrote that, I'm with you 100%. I can't see Zaheer backing down for poo poo, and I can see him going so far as not risking imprisonment anymore. He's probably going to die, and probably in a way he hopes will leave an impact on at very least Korra to encourage her to follow his ideology. I don't know who they'll get to do it, though. Lin's about the only person I could see being allowed to straight murder someone. Maybe Zuko or Toph, but I'm not sure that would send any kind of real message. Though actually, I guess having someone in a position of authority murder Zaheer in front of Korra would probably cause her to break from authority figures entirely and establish herself as an independent Avatar.
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Aug 7, 2014 22:10
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I really doubt they are going to have Korra follow an ideology of "destroy the entire concept of leadership and murder everyone who is a leader." The President of Republic City is a bit of an rear end in a top hat but he doesn't seem to be a horrible despot and Zaheer was still planning to murder him.
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Aug 7, 2014 22:38
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They should just make Korra the supreme ruler of all nations in the world. She's in a fairly good position to inherit both the Southern and the Northern Water Tribe. I'm sure that if it came to blows, she could press her claim through her father's line -- and with the full backing of the Southern Water Tribe and her own avatar power, who would stop her? At that point, being in control of the world's sea lanes, and with the Fire Nation being an island country as it is, an alliance with the Fire Nation would look quite tempting, and I'm sure that with some cozying up to Fire Lord Zuko, she could arrange for a strategic marriage. That would leave the Earth Kingdom. The current situation being what it is, it's possible that Republic City could become the political center of the Earth Kingdom rather than Ba Sing Se. If President Raiko could be gotten rid of, perhaps Korra could run for president. With the might of at least three nations behind her, Korra might be a very fine candidate for President of the Earth (Republic). The world would be a much safer place with power resting solely in the hands of a nigh-invulnerable, immortal demigod.
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Aug 7, 2014 22:55
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DrSunshine posted:They should just make Korra the supreme ruler of all nations in the world. She's in a fairly good position to inherit both the Southern and the Northern Water Tribe. I'm sure that if it came to blows, she could press her claim through her father's line -- and with the full backing of the Southern Water Tribe and her own avatar power, who would stop her? At that point, being in control of the world's sea lanes, and with the Fire Nation being an island country as it is, an alliance with the Fire Nation would look quite tempting, and I'm sure that with some cozying up to Fire Lord Zuko, she could arrange for a strategic marriage. That would leave the Earth Kingdom. The current situation being what it is, it's possible that Republic City could become the political center of the Earth Kingdom rather than Ba Sing Se. If President Raiko could be gotten rid of, perhaps Korra could run for president. With the might of at least three nations behind her, Korra might be a very fine candidate for President of the Earth (Republic). This is a clusterfuck of fanfiction. Please don't .
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Aug 7, 2014 23:18
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ImpAtom posted:I really doubt they are going to have Korra follow an ideology of "destroy the entire concept of leadership and murder everyone who is a leader." The President of Republic City is a bit of an rear end in a top hat but he doesn't seem to be a horrible despot and Zaheer was still planning to murder him. I wasn't saying she should? As I suggested at the end of my post, I could see it leading to her adopting a much more independent stance as Avatar. Almost forming her own nation unto herself, really, and being more aggressive in policing the rest of the world. I mean, that kind of seems to be Zaheer's plan for the Avatar anyway, anarchy enforced under the watchful eye of the Avatar.
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Aug 7, 2014 23:25
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RyuujinBlueZ posted:I wasn't saying she should? As I suggested at the end of my post, I could see it leading to her adopting a much more independent stance as Avatar. Almost forming her own nation unto herself, really, and being more aggressive in policing the rest of the world. I mean, that kind of seems to be Zaheer's plan for the Avatar anyway, anarchy enforced under the watchful eye of the Avatar. Yes, but as I said, that doesn't seem like the thing Korra would take from this, either from a character or a television show perspective. The Earth Queen was an extreme example but there's no real way to have Korra 'police' the elected President of Republic City without looking completely terrible unless they retcon in cartoonish evil on his behalf. I think Korra might take the "more watchful" part but not at all the anarchy or rejection of the authority of leaders part, especially since her dad is one of them. (Also, arguably, Tenzin who is probably due to show up in the plot again pretty soon.) If there's anything Korra learns from the villains this season, I would expect it to be that she needs to focus on the entire world and not just remain in one place as she has been doing up until Season 3. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Aug 7, 2014 |
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Aug 7, 2014 23:34
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I really don't think Korra's going to end up ruling anything. I doubt Zuko's daughter is a dictator and Tenzin isn't turning into one (hopefully), so more than likely she'll try and find someone who can rule the Earth Kingdom, there might not need to be a Queen anymore. And if Korra is ever in position to rule the Southern Water Tribe, she'll find someone else, or just let Eska and Desna split it, they're on somewhat okay terms now that they're no longer trying to kill her. She'll follow on the avatar principle of keeping balance and attempting to find a happy solution by finding others who can rule instead, Aang didn't become the Air Nomad representative for Republic City, he let an Acolyte do it, he never ended up ruling anything. I really think (and hope) this continues onto Book 4, I can't see it ending in such a neat manner in three episodes. Though by this point in Book 1, Korra was having flashbacks and in Book 2, Bolin was stopping the assassination of Raiko. So maybe Book 3 is wrapped all nice and tight so we can have another villain next book.
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Aug 7, 2014 23:38
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Apart from the leaked episode, does anybody else have the misfortune to remember the live-action movie? Somebody linked me to this post with some new details about how that clusterfuck happened. Surprisingly, the director may not have been to blame!
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Aug 7, 2014 23:41
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ImpAtom posted:If there's anything Korra learns from the villains this season, I would expect it to be that she needs to focus on the entire world and not just remain in one place as she has been doing up until Season 3.
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Aug 7, 2014 23:43
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Bongo Bill posted:Apart from the leaked episode, does anybody else have the misfortune to remember the live-action movie? Somebody linked me to this post with some new details about how that clusterfuck happened. Surprisingly, the director may not have been to blame! Seriously, holy gently caress, wow.
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Aug 7, 2014 23:46
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ImpAtom posted:Yes, but as I said, that doesn't seem like the thing Korra would take from this, either from a character or a television show perspective. The Earth Queen was an extreme example but there's no real way to have Korra 'police' the elected President of Republic City without looking completely terrible unless they retcon in cartoonish evil on his behalf. I think Korra might take the "more watchful" part but not at all the anarchy or rejection of the authority of leaders part, especially since her dad is one of them. (Also, arguably, Tenzin who is probably due to show up in the plot again pretty soon.) She can certainly make threats and throw around her weight and power as Avatar, and her entire story seems to me to have been a series of authority figures loving her over. That leads pretty well to her getting fed up and deciding that she's the Avatar, and the world can just deal with it and her. That doesn't mean she's going to go around killing people who disagree with her, but I doubt it'd take much more than some Avatar Stated yelling to convince anybody opposed to her that maybe they should sit down and listen. And, as Crosspeice noted, she's probably got most of the world on her side anyway. She's only really going to have to yell down the President/residents of Republic City and then she'll be free to bounce around the world checking up on people and making sure poo poo stays peaceful. Drop the regicide and it seems to basically be Zaheer's plan, or what it had to have been. A free world with peace enforced by the Avatar. Hell, it probably wouldn't even be the first time an Avatar put their foot down and told the world to do as it was told.
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Aug 7, 2014 23:46
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