*Note: I’m treating the entire finale as one collective. As such, there will not be a review for the individual episodes 11 and 12, but as the two of them together. If you want to skip the major summary of the finale, scroll down to the third triple hyphen.
There’s a lot to think about before this ends.
So, here we are. The first season of The Legend of Korra is finally over, which is a somewhat eerie thing to think about. As fans, we’ve waited for several years for another Avatar story to return to our televisions and now we’re almost done with this new experience. I’m almost a little uncomfortable with it. Nevertheless, it was surely a great ride and I think postulating the quickly approaching new season of The Legend of Korra is a better use of anyone’s efforts than dwelling on what has already happened.
Reason being is not only is there more Avatar coming, but that a season just ended, and what a finale to that season it was! I was able to suppress almost all attempts of spoiling the finale for myself and walked away completely surprised by what happened in the finale. But was it perfect? Was it the most well-rounded end to the season that it could have been? I’m ultimately not sure of that. I think this will be one of those cases where I draw my conclusions alongside my fellow fans, readers, and the rest of the community. It’s hard to judge a finale such as this, but here it goes. I’ll try not too take too much time summarizing.
—
The Legend of Korra finale begins with the complete control of Republic City under the Equalist movement, in “Skeletons in the Closet.” We find that Korra, Bolin, Mako and Asami are taking refuge in an underground hideout essentially carved out by hobos. Despite the hospitality, Mako and Korra have been using this opportunity to keep tabs on the Equalists right above their heads, finding that the Equalists are very confident that they will be able to handle the incoming United Forces fleet.
Of course, no episode of The Legend of Korra would not touch upon the romantic tension between the main characters, so quickly enough we find an awkward moment between Mako and Korra once again unfolding, only for the two to break off the engagement before any lips are locked. Meanwhile, Amon has taken post on Air Temple Island to remove the bending of White Lotus sentries, police officers, and anyone else has had captured, one by one.
Finally, the United Forces fleet arrives, but to no welcoming mat. Well, at least not one they can see. The ships run right into a minefield, which rips apart their fleet immediately. Equalist bi-planes join the fight, ravaging the already-stunned warships. Iroh and his men do their best to fight off the swarm of aircraft, but their technology is too archaic to take on the inventive strategies made possible by Hiroshi Sato’s Equalist machinery. Thankfully, Korra is able to help out the best she can and ends up saving General Iroh.
To try and put an end to the bi-plane threat, Asami, Bolin and Iroh head off on Naga to the mountains outside Republic City, where they think the bi-planes are being housed and sent off. Meanwhile, Korra and Mako decide to make their way to Air Temple Island to face Amon head-on to try and finish the war once and for all. When they arrive, they are approached by the Lieutenant, who thinks they are Equalist henchmen thanks to their costumes. Told to head to the pro-bending arena, where Amon will be holding a rally, they instead sneak into the building using a secret entrance and find Tarrlock as the island’s only prisoner. Disheveled, Tarrlock greets Korra and Mako and decides to explain to the two of them the truth about Amon and his past.
The Equalist outfits are pretty cool, though.
To quickly sum it up, Tarrlock and Amon are brothers and the sons of Yakone, who was able to set off for a new life after escaping prison and getting facial reconstruction surgery. Yakone’s plan was to get revenge on the Avatar and take back Republic City by training his sons to bloodbend to the degree that he could. Pushing them and pushing them, Amon (who’s real name was Noatak) became cold, yet strong, and surpassed Tarrlock in his skills. However, when Tarrlock was being punished and pushed too hard by his father out in the drifts of the Northern Water areas, Amon snapped and imposed his skills on his own father. Though he hated his father, he agreed with Yakone that Tarrlock was weak. Amon then set off and was never seen again – Tarrlock’s family was put into a depression, with Yakone passing away a couple of years later. His mother was never the same. With this revelation, Korra and Mako decide to reveal Amon for who he is at his own rally.
—
Following, “Skeletons in the Closet,” we enter, “Endgame.” Starting this episode is Bolin, Asami and Iroh finding the Equalist Airbase they were looking for and try to sneak in, only to be taken out rather easily by a wireless electric fence. Back in Republic City, Mako and Korra have arrived at the Equalist rally disguised as Chi-Blockers, though Korra drops their ruse only seconds after Amon begins his speech. Korra reveals Amon’s identity and past, but when he reveals his mask, a huge facial scar tells a different story. Amon doesn’t stop there; from below the stage rise a captured Tenzin and his children (Pema and Rohan are nowhere to be found). Bound, the last airbender family is to be removed of their bending in front of the Equalist crowd. However, Korra and Mako jump in and are able to hold off Amon and his forces long enough to free Tenzin, who goes hard in the paint (for an obvious lack of a better turn of phrase) and helps Korra and Mako escort his children out of the area.
At the same time, Asami, Bolin and Iroh were locked up after their electrocution. They find that Hiroshi was able to intercept the message sent out to the second United Forces fleet and now plans to destroy that squadron with more bi-planes. Later, Naga somehow finds the group and breaks them free, allowing Iroh to go after bi-planes using exceptional firebending skills, while Bolin and Asami fight off Hiroshi Sato after destroying the airstrips.
Of course, the biggest part of this episode is the conflict between Korra and Amon, which happens after Korra and Mako create a distraction for Tenzin and his family to get Pema and Rohan and escape. Amon corners them in a deep part of the building, and despite Korra and Mako’s best efforts, Amon restrains both of them with bloodbending. Then, what the entire world was hoping would never happen, Korra is stripped of her bending. Forever.
Seriously, I’d be pretty ticked if I lost any kind of super power. Being a regular human sucks. Equality!
With Korra out of the way, Amon turns his attention to Mako, who catches Amon offguard with a shot of lightning. Still, he proves too much for the young firebender and prepares to strip him of his bending, too. Korra cannot bear to watch this and forces one last punch, which somehow produces a gust of wind. Her airbending has unlocked, somehow through losing her other bending masteries. With her new found power and a ton of confidence, she forces Amon out of the entire arena and into the seas below, right in front of Amon’s followers that had exited the arena not too long before.
Rising from the water with red ink washed from his face and a blue pillar holding him high above the arena, Amon’s followers see him for who he truly is. Amon realizes that he has lost everything he has worked for and decides to cut his losses by escaping the area before Korra and Mako can take him out.
As the episode wound down, Korra is depressed that she can only airbend, pushing Mako away despite his efforts to console her. She rides off toward an icy cliff and cries, only to be met by Avatar Aang. Using the powers of the spirit world, he grants Korra her abilities back. For the first time, Korra is able to control all four elements and even accesses the Avatar state. Finally, she uses her energybending skills to bring back the powers of Lin Beifong, but not before Korra and Mako come together for a passionate kiss. And, we do eventually learn of the fate of Amon and Tarrlock – they are escaping on a boat to start a new life…well, at least, Amon thinks so. Tarrlock, however, has other plans, and in quite the surprising development, Tarrlock uses a Chi-Blocker glove to ignite the boat’s fuel tank and, well, as far as we know, the pair are over and done with.
And with the wise words of Tenzin, “I am so proud of you, Avatar Korra,” the season comes to a close.
—
Phew. That took awhile, huh?
I feel like the best way to go about this is to be really simple about it: does this finale do its job?
To be honest, the biggest thing that needed to be wrapped up was the story of Amon, which was also the most difficult to wrap up. How do you end the story of a man that, so far, has become practically invincible and has had so much influence? And how do you even go about it? Do you make him an unstoppable force that comes across an immovable object and something somehow gives? Or do you make him human and give him the necessarily vulnerabilities?
The writers went with the latter and decided to have his defeat be through the loss of his movement and influence rather than his life. Yes, he ended up losing his life, as well, but that was more defining of the character of Tarrlock rather than Amon. Amon’s defeat came when his true identity was revealed and that his movement was a lie, not when Tarrlock imploded their boat. I could certainly see traces of TLA in Amon’s defeat, as Amon has to eventually realize that he has lost. The expression that came across his face after the red ink was drained of his mug was very telling. Though I was expecting more of a fight to be put up (and if there was a longer finale, I’m sure that’s what would have happened), Amon’s reaction was nevertheless settling. And Tarrlock’s final sacrifice was satisfying, not because he took out Amon, but because he finally realized that both himself and Amon had to pay for their actions. It’s never easy to make a decision like that. Ever.
Then, of course, we find that Korra and Mako have finally come together in loving embrace. This was probably my least favorite part of the finale, not because I had other thoughts on who should be with who, but because it was so predictable. We saw it coming, but not in a good way – Mako spent every waking moment in the past several episodes making it very clear to Asami that he liked Korra more than her. At least back in The Last Airbender, the relationship between Katara and Aang was constantly flip-flopping though we hoped that they would be together in the end. I feel like, in this case, this wasn’t the most favorable outcome. Mako was pretty much a dick to Asami for almost no reason at all, other than he had no idea how to be with Korra other than to completely screw Asami over in the process. And for Korra to go along with it wasn’t amazing either, but I blame her less because she had less to do with it as more time passed. Still, Bolin pretty much got cockblocked and Asami got cheated on – not cool.
And, then we have the situation of Korra and her bending. Korra’s unlocking of her airbending was quite the revelation and was ultimately executed rather well. It came in at a moment of desperation. Scenes like these have become characteristic of the franchise as a whole, so to see the tradition carried on was great. And for Korra to break through Amon’s apparent invincibility was truly incredible. However, I was hoping to see Korra have to live with this new situation going into the new season, or at least not regain her powers back pretty much right after she lost them.
It makes me wonder – how is the second season going to pan out? Korra and Mako are together; Korra has all of her bending back; Amon and Tarrlock are dead. If anything, this clearly shows that we’ll get a very different storyline going into the next season. I’m very intrigued by this.
How can you not enjoy some General Irohn Man action?
Despite all that bothered me, the best part about this finale is that it did the show service and was entertaining. I would still say that Episode 10 is the best of the series so far, as the emotion in that episode was gut-wrenching and allowed the finale to do its job successfully. Not only was I entertained, but I felt more along for the ride than ever. The reveal that Tenzin and his family were captured by Amon and his forces was one of the most surprising points of the episode and truly made me wonder how Korra could save her friends, family and herself, especially with so much on the line. There was a ton stacked against her, but she’s the Avatar, so I always had faith.
I think that’s one of the best parts about this finale – we knew Korra and company would succeed. The good guys always win. So, in cases like these, it’s not about the destination, but the journey. I knew how it would end, but I wanted to see how it would end. That’s what interested me the most. It’s safe to say that I’m thoroughly enjoyed with the ride to the destination, as it had me guessing and constantly wondering how this mess would be cleaned up. The revelations were truly one of a kind. Now, if things didn’t end so nicely and well-mannered, that could have been quite incredible (albeit a lot darker and less cheerful). Still, a great finale.
I mean, what more could you ask for? The finale had drama, it had character, it had a ton on the line, and of course a ton of action. Iroh’s fight against the Equalist bi-planes was a ton of fun, and the bout between Hiroshi and his daughter Asami was short-lived, but packed a lot of passion and emotion. And Korra and Mako’s fight against Amon was certainly tough to watch, but for all the right reasons. They had essentially lost, Amon had them in his clutches, and somehow they were able to escape. It was very, very dramatic.
If anything, what may make this finale not as perfect as I’d like to think is not necessarily the finale’s fault, but the fault of the show itself. The pacing, the length, the quickness of its advancement all led to a finale that had to be relatively the same. Could we have seen a longer fight between Amon and Korra? Could Korra have actually accessed the spirit world sometime during the season? Would we have seen more of outside the bounds of Republic City? I can’t say, but I sure wish I could have seen it. Having only half the length of a TLA season definitely hurt the quality of the first season of LoK, but not by much.
—
Because of its length, we’ve seen a different kind of character from this series, and though I wish it could be longer, I’m happy with what we have. That’s why this finale was as satisfying as it could be and I’m as happy as I could be. The story was wrapped up nicely after a rather good narrative and we even have more Avatar to look forward to!
For all you fans out there, I hope you all enjoyed the show thus far as much as I have. While I’ll always have The Last Airbender in a special place in my heart, and unless LoK somehow does the impossible, it will always be a step above any kind of Avatar spinoff. Still, I love this new series to death, and overall we’ve seen some great content that definitely was worth the wait since Aang took out Fire Lord Ozai.
All I can say now is I can’t wait to review the first episode of Season 2.