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Season 2 had both the best and the worst episodes of the entire franchise, and the bad ones mattered more. But it ended with a sequel hook better than the entire premise of the first season, which I liked a lot, so I think that some optimism is warranted.
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Jun 27, 2014 09:08
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I'm very pleased with this opening. The characters are all on point, recognizable and strong without tedious angst or weird obsessions. Korra in particular is motivated not by an identity crisis but by a proactive goal, which is refreshing; unlike Book 2's opening, the growth from the previous book seems to have stuck. The apparent antagonists are a physical rather than a psychological or political threat, and unique martial artists rather than mooks or spirits, which shows good promise for the quality of the fight scenes we're in for. And most importantly, the characters are mobile instead of being stuck in Republic City - so it can show different environments and different character dynamics, draw on the lore of the setting, and be less constrained in how things proceed (i.e. every episode won't open with people discussing the fallout of the previous episode in city hall). Book 3 already is off to a different start than Book 2, which was in many ways a rehash that felt like it was Frankensteined together from rejected first drafts of Book 1's events. And it appears to have shed the qualities that prevented book 1 from reaching the heights of The Last Airbender - it's shaping up to be an adventure again, instead of the thriller the last two books were. Will it actually deliver on exploring the world it's depicting? Well, once burned, twice shy. But between the strong family themes and the echoes of the best parts of The Last Airbender, I'm already certain I'll be getting something out of watching it.
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Jun 28, 2014 12:21
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I like liking things better than I like not liking them, so, I will try to help this thread remain (become) positive.
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Jun 28, 2014 12:32
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Sithsaber posted:How many shippers polluted the last thread? None at all. The anti-shippers were a bigger problem; people complaining about anything that seemed like it could be used for romantic tension. Even that was pretty much just a sideshow, though.
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Jun 28, 2014 12:50
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Tenzin is setting himself up for a big disappointment. He's not going to succeed in reviving the air nomads as the one and only airbending culture.
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Jun 28, 2014 19:04
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ROSS MY SALAD posted:So why does Zuko have a dragon now The lame answer is that I think there's something about this in the comics. The cool answer is: wouldn't you?
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Jun 28, 2014 19:39
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X_Toad posted:I believe you may feel that way because Tenzin himself feels that way. I really hoped that he would have a realization of some sort at the end of the first interview, but it never came. I can't believe that a grown, intelligent man like Tenzin doesn't realize how much of a life-choice it is to become an Air Nomad. Especially when all the people living in the Air Temples right now are non-benders who decided to follow the Air Nomads' way of life. Acknowledging that being an Air Nomad is a huge, life-defining decision would mean coming to terms with the fact that it was forced upon him. This is going to be a real problem when he has to face the reality that the reason it was forced upon him - the idea that airbenders must be Air Nomads - turns out to be false. Him being grown and intelligent isn't gonna stop that from hurting.
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Jun 29, 2014 15:04
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It's very important that we establish clearly whose opinions about cartoons are the most consistent, historically.
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Jun 29, 2014 19:29
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Zaofu's gleaming art deco lotus design is spectacular and it reminds me of Metropolis in a big way. Keeping guys like Varrick and that "truth-seer" Aiwei around makes me wonder what other sinister secrets are under that utopia.
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Jul 12, 2014 23:03
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There's certainly no reason to believe Su isn't trustworthy or that Zaofu isn't safe. With only 13 episodes, they may not consider it a priority to follow up on the possibility that there's an unexamined human cost to Zaofu's seeming perfection. Twice they pointed out that the city welcomes even former criminals. Maybe Ghazan, the evil earthbender, will make an appearance, like how Zaheer infiltrated the air temple.
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Jul 13, 2014 00:30
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Fried Chicken posted:I dunno, a mother not wanting her only daughter, who is still a teenager, to go off away from home and family to the far side of the world, is a pretty reasonable human reaction, not a villainous act. It is reasonable, but it is also representative of her perspective on the strife between herself, Lin, and Toph.
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Jul 13, 2014 05:33
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AshB posted:I really don't think they're going to make one of Toph's daughters evil. I'm not especially worried about it. Of course she's not evil. But there's more to seeming utopias than the goodwill of their leaders. Art deco was the art style of optimism, of faith in progress, of embracing Change - and the city drawn in that style embodies those ideals. It's a place for people to put their pasts behind them and look to the future. Of course, it won't be that easy (we're only on episode 5). Varrick is there and that oily rascal hasn't changed one bit. Korra's mission is the gathering of airbenders, and that's as much reviving something old as creating something new. Most pressingly - the villains come from the past, and the solution to the mystery of their motives will be found there. Su created a little world where there's only the future. The strife between her and Lin has its roots in the past, and Su thinks by letting go of the past she can find peace. Letting go of the past is the one thing Lin can't do, however. Korra must, of course, bring harmony to the half-sisters, and that means restoring balance between the past and the future. The past has already resisted her; why shouldn't the future also?
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Jul 13, 2014 07:26
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dj_clawson posted:Also, Kya losing to a guy who's been airbending for 3 weeks when she was raised with Tenzin? She must genuinely suck as a bender. They said Zaheer was a match for nearly any bender even when he didn't have any bending. His airbending is rudimentary but he's still got regular martial arts. I thought Kya put on a performance worthy of her mother. It's just hard to stop an airbender from flying away.
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Jul 13, 2014 07:38
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This man must be brought to justice.
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Jul 13, 2014 07:48
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The villains are kinda old too.
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Jul 13, 2014 23:52
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I kind of wish Tenzin were wiser than he is.
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Jul 19, 2014 05:56
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ZorajitZorajit posted:Wait, is that a real panel? Like, she's not tripping on cactus juice or something? Also, I'd really like to see the Avatar, maybe the next one, be the primary antagonist especially now that he or she doesn't have ten thousand years of people telling them not to completely abuse the power. It is fan art.
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Jul 22, 2014 16:32
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ImpAtom posted:I really really hope people don't get this big huge idea into their head and they get super-angry when it isn't that. Too late, I'm already all in on the Red Lotus planning to do some spirity thing where they take control of the Avatar cycle and control the world through their divine figurehead, and I've already started my draft of the angry email I'm going to send if my fanfic doesn't come true.
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Jul 29, 2014 08:28
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Korra's got bigger fish to fry, and has enough goodwill towards Su to respect her opinions about giving people second chances. Varrick was always been completely forthcoming about his motives, and as long as he's in Xaofu he's not exactly in a position to profit from his usual underhanded skulduggery. Being under the protection of the Metal Clan means he can't do anything that's not broadly compatible with their more humane futurist project. He's not in prison, but if he leaves, he's still a fugitive from the Republic and maybe the Water Tribes as well, so Xaofu is as good a place to leave him as any. Plus, Iwei vouched for him, and although Iwei turned out to be untrustworthy, Varrick was the one who sold him out, so if he's playing a long con, he's at least an enemy of the Red Lotus. It does throw into relief just how little they're doing with Asami this season, but perhaps there'll be time for that later.
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Jul 29, 2014 23:58
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X_Toad posted:Not necessarily. It frankly looks like Aiwei wanted to be found out without being too obvious about it. Most notably, his choice of culprit amongst the guards make little sense, as Mako pointed out rather quickly. Verrick could be in on it as the clue-giver, and Suyin's reaction to Aiwei's betrayal was either expected or she's part of the conspiracy herself. There is that. An improvised scheme to lure Korra into pursuing the Red Lotus, without making it look too easy? I can see that. Varrick's a fun villain because his motives are so eccentric that he really could go either way.
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Jul 30, 2014 00:12
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Pro-bending is good, but not that good. No movie has ever been made anything but better by adding a chariot race to it. It's just science.
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Jul 30, 2014 04:17
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Fried Chicken posted:Zaheer called for plan b, but then they didn't do anything but continue their defense and attempt to break out. I forgot that he said "Plan B." That changes things. Su's clearly not in on it, though. She could've made Plan A work if she wanted to.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:11
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Squidster posted:EDIT: Because if there's one thing every tv show should have, it's a Herod-style massacre of infants. If it's good enough for King Arthur, it's good enough for Korra.
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Aug 6, 2014 00:10
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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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Irish Joe posted:I forgot Shamalyan was a Pennsylvania guy. Knowing he shot it in Reading almost makes me want to watch it. Almost. That movie is so bad that, for several months after seeing it, I forgot that movies could be good.
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Aug 8, 2014 00:53
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Can we take a moment to talk about how awesome Ghazan is? Nobody knows how to handle that guy.
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Aug 15, 2014 22:05
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I will be disappointed if that cliffhanger gets resolved next week with a reveal that they really did kill Tenzin, if only because we haven't seen him do anything cool successfully yet.
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Aug 15, 2014 23:58
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On the other hand, it's a cliffhanger, and we all know how cliffhangers work. Really, the question is whether they didn't show it because it did happen, or they didn't show it because they only want us to think it was about to happen.
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Aug 16, 2014 01:26
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That's probably really hard and would first require realizing that air even can be a liquid, something that would be a bit out of place in the setting. All this chi poo poo is not real physics. Bumi probably isn't in the habit of filling his novice airbender robes with knives.
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Aug 17, 2014 06:09
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The most I'd want is an epilogue involving an old Korra in futuretown reflecting on how she oversaw the birth of this freaky new techno-world.
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Aug 17, 2014 18:18
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If Tenzin dies, it means Aang's dream of reviving the air nation failed once and for all. Tenzin's the only airbending master; if he's gone, there's nobody left to pass it down, as even his most advanced pupil's training (Jinora's) is still incomplete. It's one thing if the point is that Aang's dream was impossible and there needs to be a new air nation unconnected from the old one, inventing a new tradition and learning new philosophy and technique. It's quite another if the reason that happens is because nobody was around to answer the radio.
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Aug 18, 2014 22:13
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The spirit world is not the afterlife, also.
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Aug 19, 2014 18:48
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I'm at a loss for words. That finale was unbelievably good.
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Aug 22, 2014 12:09
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Wildeyes posted:I'd hate to be the people who had to deal with P'Li's remains. Yikes. That was set up a bit earlier. They shared that moment in the temple, and he talked to her like he was saying goodbye. He knew that he needed to shed all worldly attachments in order to fulfill Guru Laghima's poem, and, well, she was his last worldly attachment. With her gone, there was nothing left that could make him hesitate from leaving the earth behind. He knew he would need to let her go, and then he did.
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Aug 22, 2014 16:10
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Rosalind posted:To be fair, I do sexual health research for a living. I see sex, innuendo, and attraction everywhere now. I do really just want to see a children's cartoon character have a same sex relationship. I think society is ready. I know realistically that it's not actually a thing that is going to happen. If you told me Seychelle Gabriel were deliberately playing Asami with romantic undertones in scenes with Korra, I'd believe you, but I don't think it would make sense for the characters for that to be reflected literally in the writing. They've been characterized deeply enough for long enough that there's no need to throw in some unrequited attraction in order to make their dynamic interesting, since the reasons and ways they care about each other are already very well-established. Asami's definitely due for some drama, largely because her life revolves around Korra's ever since Hiroshi's arrest, and that's not going to be any less of a factor now that Korra's wheelchair-bound for the time being. But that's a strong dynamic in its own right, which that might be strengthened if underscored by suggestions that it's like romance, but not by actually making that into text. Just one man's dumb opinion, anyway. Wow, though, that finale was something else. I mean, of course the "ultimate airbending technique" or whatever would be flight.
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Aug 22, 2014 19:45
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Let's all take a moment to remember that Ghazan was the coolest one.
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Aug 22, 2014 20:06
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Liar posted:Is there going to be another season still, because this poo poo's depressed me to no ends. Yes, there will be a book 4. It was ordered at the same time as book 3. No, we don't know when it will start.
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Aug 22, 2014 21:12
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VaultAggie posted:So, uh, whatever happened to the spirit vines plot line from the beginning of the season? Further consequences of the spirit world merging with the physical world are likely to feature in book 4.
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Aug 22, 2014 21:29
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The time period that Legend of Korra's setting is based on is one in which, in the real world, many independent revolutionary movements arose at the same time, some of which sound crazier to modern ears than others. It's okay for some of them to be different conspiracies.
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Aug 23, 2014 19:40
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Not only is Jinora going to keep her head shaved, if you keep watching, you'll have to shave your head too.
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Aug 23, 2014 21:05
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