Ibrahim Noir

At the time of writing, we’re back in Avatar season. The Netflix adaptation has been released into the wild to mixed reception. It’s opened all sorts of conversations about the original show and the many additions to its franchise. Because I’m a cynical asshole, I’ve reflected on how unnecessary it’s all been and how none of it has really been worth digging this amazing show back up for. But Legend of Korra has always been a particular sticking point for me. You know by now I’m no fan of the show. I think it’s an unworthy successor to Avatar in almost every way. But it’s not unsalvageable. It’s not Steven Universe. It had potential. A lot of it.

A while back, I wrote one of my fun lil’ breakdown/analyses on Legend of Korra‘s Beginnings 2-part special. Now, I’ve taken on a pretty huge undertaking and a first for my little blog. I’m going to take on the entire series, beginning to end. To rewatch it with fresh eyes and put my money where my mouth is. The way this will work is I’ll be breaking down each episode as I do, and then assess each season after their respective finales. I will then try to assess the show as a whole at the very end. Hopefully you’ll be willing to hear me out and at least understand why I’ve come to the conclusions I’ve had about Korra, and get to talk about plenty of writing techniques on the way. I want these to be potentially educational so they’ll be overall less “mean” than my usual dreck. I’ll still be a sarcastic asshole from time to time and I hope they’re fun and interesting to read in any case.

Some Frequently Assed Quibbles (FAQ if you will) to get out of the way first:

🤓☝️ “You can’t compare Legend of Korra to The Last Airbender! You have to look at them as their own shows with their own strengths and flaws! You can’t expect it to be the same!”

Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are indeed their own shows, and neither is perfect. But I’m gonna let you know now: I’m going to compare Korra to Avatar a lot. And shamelessly too. This is because the show is a sequel. Your investment and enjoyment of this show is going to be fundamentally based in an investment in Avatar, because it’s set in the same continuity, and uses the same world, characters, plot threads, and magic system as that show. Korra is inextricably tied to Avatar, and actually panders to fans of that show quite a bit. I’m aware they’re not the same, which is why you won’t hear me say “This thing in Korra is bad because it’s not like Avatar.” Criticisms of that sort of flavor will be levied at the show when it attempts to do something in conformity with, or in contrary to Avatar. What’s more is that Avatar established rules during its run and Korra is not above those rules just because it’s a different show. If Korra breaches the rules in a way that’s irreconcilable with the franchise’s continuity, it will be counted against the show. Internal consistency has been the name of the game here since day one.

This also goes for those of you in the “You just hate Korra (the character) because she’s not Aang” crowd. Comparisons will be made there too, mostly to illustrate why Korra is poorly written even when divorced from Aang.

Curiously though, I never see this argument come up when arguments are made for why something in Legend of Korra is better than Avatar. It’s also interesting that this argument never comes up whenever someone wants to rip into M. Night Shaymalan’s live-action movie adaptation of the show, and criticize it for its many differences from the source material. And that movie actually is divorced from the main continuity. Almost makes you wonder if people are less willing to play the “Why must we pit two queens against each other” card when the comparison is in favor of whatever they like more. Hmmmmm….

🤓☝️ “The Last Airbender has flaws too! You’re just singling out Legend of Korra because you’re blinded by nostalgia and think Avatar is perfect!”

Ignoring that this is whataboutism, I have plenty of not-insignificant issues with The Last Airbender, and a number of them are probably going to come up in this series. However, I am very biased towards that show because I adore it so much, and I’ll do my best to keep that bias in check. Let it never be said that I’m not an optimist, however. I did try to like Legend of Korra just as much. What fan wouldn’t? I could put Avatar under the same lens I do with everything else, but that is simply not the show we’re talking about at right now. In any case, flaws in that show don’t erase the flaws in this one.

🤓☝️ “Movies and shows are visual mediums! The visuals/music/acting/sound design have to bring it to at least a 5/10!”

This blog has only ever factored writing into an assessment. I will comment on those other things, and Legend of Korra does indeed succeed in a lot of them. But you can have a story without all those things. You cannot have a story without writing. Visuals, music, sound design, etc are all in service to the story being told. None of it matters, compared; it’s all dressing. These things will age. Writing is timeless. If you need proof of this, consider the most celebrated stories in fiction. Most of them are not new and don’t have mindblowing visual effects. In fact, a lot of them haveno visual component except text. Bottom line: if you think writing is not all that important, hopefully I can convince you. Otherwise, you’re in the wrong place.

🤓☝️ “The show ended 10 years ago. Can’t you just get over it?”

That’s a fair point, actually. No doubt the creators thought while making this show, “I sure hope no one ever talks about this years after it finishes!”

The answer is no. We still talk about Shakespeare hundreds of years later. You’ll survive.

🤓☝️ “It’s a kid’s show! Why do you have to take it so seriously?”

Now this is a strange one. I’ve been hearing for years about how mature and deep this show is because of the depth of its characters and the themes it’s brave enough to tackle. I don’t see anyone popping out of the woodwork telling everyone to chill out when they’re praising the kid’s show. Hell, I’ve even seen some go as far as to say that Korra isn’t a kid’s show.

It seems to me like whenever children’s animation is taken seriously and held to a serious standard, a lot of people in the “animation deserves to be taken seriously and held to a serious standard” crowd don’t actually want to step up to the plate and try to address flaws. They’d rather deflect and excuse them by doing a complete 180 and dismissing whatever show/movie they were just championing as brilliant art as “just a kid’s show.” This mindset sucks and you’re really on the wrong blog if you think like this. Because you’ve shown that you don’t take children’s content seriously by implying the bar should be lower for children. I both have a lot of respect for animation and will always champion the idea that children deserve good content. We rightly celebrate children’s content that’s brilliant. We all know it’s possible. I think at the very least we can assess a successor to Avatar: The Last Airbender to a higher standard.

Clear? Alright then. Away we go!