Legend of Korra!

[Dutch guy]

I think that not being able to directly hate the equalists is kind of the whole point. Their methods might not be correct and bad for balance, but it is the imbalance in the world that created them in the first place

[Fenrir]

Ok, I don't know if this has been asked yet but....does anyone know when this is ACTUALLY going to be aired in the UK? Or whether it is already being aired here (and I'm just being dense and haven't come across it). Cus I *really* want to see this.

[Alja-Markir]

Not sure we need to be spoilering discussion about the Equalists in general, just stick to using it for episode specifics I say.

Anywho, I can't really identify with the Equalists because the cause has such an illogical structure. Okay, so benders are "oppressing" non-benders. Well... uh... how, exactly?

So the major governments of the world are run by benders. Okay, sure. But for crying out loud, only 70 years ago it was friggen feudal monarchies and military dictatorships. Republic City and the United Republic seem to have taken massive leaps and bounds away from that in an incredibly short period of time. Is it perfect? No, certainly not. But it's the best we've seen so far in the entire history of the Avatar world.

Then there are the Triads. Criminal scum who abuse their bending powers to intimidate people. But let's be realistic here - people don't have to be benders to be criminals and thugs. If your primary racket is charging "protection" money and roughing up people, you don't really need bending to pull that off, do you? A bunch of tough guys with some concealable weaponry does the trick just fine. The bending helps, sure, but it surely isn't necesarry, nor does it cause the criminality.

Then there's the whole set of things about Amon, with a lot of what he says just not adding up. Okay, so he blames bending for all war ever. Uhh... what? Bending may be an ancient tradition, but there clearly were wars before it was learned by humanity, and there clearly was warfare among non-benders even after it was common. He also claims that bending is "unnatural". O RLY? So the thing taught to humanity by natural forces such as dragons, badgermoles, sky bisons, and the moon spirit is unnatural? How can anyone believe that? Did all the legends that were so deeply ingrained in the cultures of the four nations just vanish over half a century? Are people genuinely ignorant of the origins of bending? And even if that was somehow the case, why doesn't the council make a public rebuttal to Amon's ludicrous claims?

Amon also claims to speak to the spirits, and that he alone somehow is the voice of their message. Okay, so simple response to that - find some fricken' spirits and get them to denounce Amon, maybe?! What the heck is wrong with the Council? Or hell, the White Lotus? Or, ya know, ANYONE with even a remote connection to the spirit world? Did all the shamans and spirit-talkers in the world disappear with the legends of the origins of bending? Did the Sun Warriors and their dragons die out? Did the people of Senlin Village just wink out of existence along with Hei Bai? Shouldn't Tarlokk, representative of the Northern Water Tribe, a group whose capital city is the permanent home to not one but two major spirits, Tui and La, the Moon Spirit and the Ocean Spirit, be able to get some sort of spirit world response to Amon's statement?

Don't the non-benders of the world question the bizarre, contradictory statements of a masked and anonymous man who demonstrates a willingness to commit public acts of violence and destruction? Isn't it a little weird that he has such a cult of personality? The Firelords of the 100 Year War at least had the massive advantage of already being the ultimate and unquestioned hereditary rulers of a massive nation with strong cultural ties to militancy and authority and deep traditions of honor and glory. When the Firelord speaks, you listen because he has the might and authority to give his demands weight. But who the hell is Amon? Why does anyone buy into his crap? He makes a few vague statements about oppression, paints himself as an absurd messiah figure, and suddenly people support him unquestioningly? You'd have to be talking about some pretty fucking desperate and disenfranchised people for me to believe that.

What I desperately want to see is a single non-bender publicly stand up to Amon, asking hard questions and demanding answers. I mean, what can Amon do? Take their bending away? Or maybe have his goons beat them up? Yeah, that'll look good. A non-bender questions your methods publicly, and rather than debate them your response is to silence them with violence. That'll convince people of your cause.

~Alja~

[The Jester]

Look at it as somewhat similar to the French Revoloution; the royals weren't that bad, or at least the ones killed by the revolution - the damage had already been done by previous monarchs and the king at the time could only do so much in his attempts to fix things - but it was the feeling at the time that everyone should be equal.

Mob mentality kicked in when merchants started getting rich quickly and families rising from one social level to another in a generation and the idea that... hey, maybe everyone could be equal started to look possible.

This feeling was then manipulated and used by charismatic, dangerous people with their own agendas. People who sparked the revolution with violence, and incited it in their countrymen.

The same thing has happened in Republic City; people are feeling that there is a divide between benders and non-benders because where before it just wasn't thought about, now technological, information exchange and economic advances change the way that people look at one another and the lenses through which they view the world.

I'm not sure how clear I can be, I'm afraid. I'm not very good at putting these thoughts into words. But suffice it to say that Republic City was a powder keg waiting for a spark. Amon just happened to be that spark.

[Dave-O_Boy]

This picture is not relevant to the current discussion. I just thought it funny.

[EikoandMog]

I still have the sneaking suspicion that Lin was the one who paid off the refs. She would have seen the winners of the tournament as the targets of Amon and in the event that something went wrong with her security, the Avatar stays safe. The only issue with my theory is that how would the Wolfbats know that the refs were on their side?

[gcninja]

No, I'm sure the ref was just being a grade-A asshole and cheating. We'll find out soon enough if anything is up anyway

[Brad]

I know that show! I like that show! I get popular culture!

[Alja-Markir]

@Jester

The difference with the French Revolution is that the revolutionaries actually had an alternative that made sense. They wanted an end to the monarchy, but they backed it up with actual real grievances like "we're fucking starving to death while the king sits around eatting cake", rather than utterly absurd statements like "the king is responsible for all wars ever". Furthermore, while charismatic revolutionary leaders did emerge to challenge the monarchy, they weren't lone, anonymous, self-appointed messiahs challenging centuries or even millenia of spiritual and metaphysical teachings, they were well known intellectuals and statesmen leading political parties full of other, like-minded intellectuals, challenging things like who gets to own land, who gets to vote, and how the laws of the land were structured and enforced. (Or, later on, they were Napoleon.)

Amon's claims about the spirits and about The Avatar would be akin to some random French writer using a pseudonym writing about how Jesus was a sham and that instead they were the one true messiah destined to lead France to salvation. His claims about non-benders being oppressed would be akin to saying "The King is a jerk, I saw him kick a puppy once, and I'm pretty sure he eats babies too." Basically nothing he says holds water.

~Alja~

[Cybren]

The flaw in the story is that the benders the audience gets to know best are Korra, who is literally a deity, and Mako and his brother, who are themselves the historically most disenfranchised minority group; urban poor.

[Alja-Markir]

~Alja~

[Alja-Markir]

~Alja~

[Yaxley]

So I finally had a chance to watch the latest episode and I love how they draw us in with how cool pro bending is and making us root for the Fire Ferrets and despise Tahno, and then in a matter of seconds it's like "Oh right. This doesn't actually matter and now I kind of feel bad for that douche tool. It's that emotional turn that makes things a little scarier.

Unrelated, I know we're in the thick of the story here, but does anyone else really want a nice flashback episode where we get to see adult Aang, Sokka, and Toph; and child Tenzin and Lin? Later in the season for sure, but I could really go for that.

[Alja-Markir]

So someone pointed out that Tahno is a walking mockery of the terribad film - he's a white guy who does waterbending and who mispronounces "Avatar".

~Alja~

[Alja-Markir]

This Is Why Zuko Is The Next Firelord





~Alja~

[AlexanderDitto]

Has anyone seen the preview of next week's episode? Man, even the JERKS are sympathetic and complex in this show.JEEZ AUGH KORRA STOP MAKING ME HAVE ALL THESE FEELINGS

[Alja-Markir]

Young people being more capable than they are typically given credit for?
Older people making mistakes, being stubborn, selfish, or otherwise flawed?
Enemies and rivals being more than simply flat, black versus white characters?
The audience being treated like they're smart enough to think for themselves?

"Cartoons" have come a long way, doncha know.

~Alja~

[gcninja]

Mako answers your questions!
http://do-not-touch-the-scarf.tumblr.com/

[Alja-Markir]

~Alja~

[gcninja]

First *distasteful* face Katara, now *distasteful* Korra. These get better and better.

[Alja-Markir]

1) Don't help propagate the distasteful usage of "rape" like that, please.
2) Similar thing for Parkinson's Disease. Not cool, bro.
3) The previous one was Katara, not Korra.

~Alja~

[gcninja]

:\ really, are people getting up tight about that?
Also, sorry about the katara, I saw it at like 5AM and was rushing to work.

[Alja-Markir]

You've never talked to a rape victim sometime, or someone suffering a degenerative neurological disease, have you? You don't have to live with them or their problems, but please don't make light of their suffering.

I'm not particularly upset with you, but I did want to politely asking you to reign in a bit of distasteful humor. I hardly qualify that as uptight. If you still feel slighted, PM me about it please and we'll chat there.

And now back to our regularly scheduled shenanigans.



~Alja~

[Drdiggit42]

Very good episode. I'm so glad that Asami decided as she did. You can really see Team Avatar coming together now.

[JustAName]

For once, I caught it live!

And we knew it was coming, but it was still so wonderful... My Cabbage Corp!