I usually don’t take so long to get around to recapping Avatar episodes, but, well, it’s been busy. My schedule’s pretty bare now though… a little too much so. I… kinda want money.
Anyway, when we last left the series, Amon has stepped up his game with a public display, and Asami Sato joined the group after defying her dad. Asami and the Fire Ferrets now live at Air Temple Island. Meanwhile, Lin Beifong has resigned, leaving the path open for blatantly corrupt official Tarrlok to appoint her replacement and get one step closer to whatever his douchey goals are.
Most of the beginning of this episode was just the so-called “New Team Avatar” coming together and deciding to help take down Amon and his extremists (er, Equalists).
This episode also has Ikki telling Asami that Korra likes Mako, which… kinda needed to be done sooner or later, and at least this way it provides another great reaction shot.
I will admit that I’m not a big fan of Asami Sato… but damn if she isn’t pointlessly sexy.
Also, this is the first time I noticed an odd animation error in the series.
In a short but inventive car chase, the New Team Avatar (None of them have a boomerang, so I can’t call them the New Boomeraang Squad…) take down some escaped prisoners and Equalists, but Tarrlok is pissed. But he rebounds by introducing a new law that makes Equalist membership illegal… as well as being associated with Equalists… and adds a curfew to all non-benders. Not only was this an unnecessary extreme, but it’s FUCKING BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that this law is designed to prove Amon right about benders imposing their will over non-benders, and if anything would only cause there to be more support for Equalists and a greater rift between benders and non-benders. Oh, and this technically automatically brands Asami Sato as a criminal, and the rest of the Team probably criminals for associating with her.
And, PREDICTABLY, Tenzin is against Tarrlok’s law, but the rest of the members of the council all vote for him without saying a word. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO CHARACTER. THEIR ONLY PURPOSE IS TO VOTE FOR TARRLOK.
As an aside, I just want to point out that I generally have no problems with Guild Wars 2 writing. I read a lot of criticism about GW2’s writing, and I can understand some arguments (and rarely agree with them – sometimes they have a point) but at NO POINT was I ever pissed off at ANY writers than right at this moment. It was just head-bashingly convenient, and it made Tarrlok’s villainy just feel incredibly artificial.
Who the fuck are these councilmembers, and why are they so fucking stupid and spineless? Just… just nuke Republic City already.
Okay… done venting. I want to point out that as soon as this happened, I paused the disc and typed up everything above while I still felt this way. I didn’t want to watch the rest of the disc and be forced to revisit my feelings regarding this scene while knowing whatever happens after. This had to be raw. So. Moving on.
Tarrlok has the power shut down on non-bender households and arrests the non-benders that show up to complain. The scene plays out exactly as I predicted with Asami, Mako and Bolin getting arrested while Tarrlok brags smugly in front of Korra.
Korra brings Tenzin in, but his authority isn’t enough to free anyone. So Korra takes it upon herself to do something by confronting Tarrlok in his office.
In a scene that makes me yell “FINALLY!” Korra calls Tarrlok out for proving Amon right. Tarrlok reveals that he did this all to force Korra to serve under him and offers a deal. Korra doesn’t fall for it, then she says he’s “just as bad as Amon,” which REALLY gets to Tarrlok, resulting in peace talks breaking down and an unexpected fight scene to break out.
Korra manages to get the upper hand and has Tarrlok cornered, but Tarrlok breaks out BLOODBENDING! This shocks Korra, who comments that it’s not a full moon… and also implies that knowledge of Bloodbending is relatively common knowledge, so… that’s fucking scary.
Korra gets knocked out and has more of those dream flashbacks before waking up tied up in the back of a Satomobile. Because Tarrlok is driving her somewhere away from Republic City instead of killing her…
Jeez, Korra’s villains really have a thing for not killing her when they easily could.
Next episode!
Tarrlok puts Korra in a big safe in a remote cabin. Because… I have no fucking clue why. I guess he just wanted to work hard.
Later, Tenzin receives a call from Tarrlok, who gives a phony story about Equalists breaking into city hall, capturing Korra, and subduing him. Lin Beifong hears about it and breaks Korra’s friends free.
Back to the metal cell… Korra obviously doesn’t know Metalbending or Sweatbending. So she decides to meditate and try to bring up those dream visions for, well, answers, I suppose. Or to kill time and entertain herself. Both are equally viable.
I… have no idea whose point of view the dream visions are supposed to be from. I suppose the spirits have a camera. Anyway, Toph and Aang, now middle-aged, bust a criminal named Yakone, and they annoyingly don’t pronounce the e at the end of that name.
The vision provides no answers, however. Meanwhile, Korra’s friends try to find her, but they still believe she was taken by Equalists / Amon and end up following the wrong leads. But they do learn that the Equalists use underground tunnels to get around.
Asami decides NOW is the time to be suspicious of Mako being too worried about Korra… I mean, it’s not like it’s normal to be worried about her well-being right now… and she pesters Bolin to the point that he offhandedly mentions Mako and Korra kissed once.
Congratulations, writers! That’s TWO strong female characters you’re ruining with the same love triangle! IT’S THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING! What’s next, Lin? Oh wait, half her schtick is being cross over Tenzin leaving her. Still, I can overlook that since A) It’s not Mako, and B) Tenzin’s the man.
The team hears motorcycles coming in and they hide, allowing them to conveniently spot a secret Equalist passage. They follow a tram tunnel to an Equalist prison and ambush the guards. I do want to point out that it’s hard to get invested in this when you know Korra isn’t waiting at the end. Though I am curious to see if they free anyone worthwhile.
Lin detects her other Metalbending officers, but not Korra.
When an Equalist guard gets interrogated and admits the Equalists didn’t attack city hall, Tenzin comes to the conclusion that Tarrlok is the one who captured Korra.
Back to the flashbacks, we learn that Yakone has been accused of Bloodbending, except the witnesses claim he does this on non-full-moon days.
The defense claims that Bloodbending is impossible, but as Metalbending has taught us, the impossible is impossible until proven otherwise… and surprisingly, Sokka brings this point up almost immediately. Yakone is sentenced to prison, but he uses his Bloodbending to attack, well, everyone. And I have to say, it’s utterly stupid NOT to have anti-Bloodbending measures in place when the criminal you’re up against IS A KNOWN BLOODBENDER. Though this does make one wonder if there are ANY anti-Bloodbender measures possible. Katara proved it’s possible to negate a Bloodbender’s ability by being a stronger Waterbender. So… this means he’s a stronger Waterbender than Aang?
The Team confronts Tarrlok, and his assistant reveals that Tarrlok did in fact capture Korra with Bloodbending. The Team makes the same mistake as the Squad years ago and attempts to capture Tarrlok by immediately being shut down by Bloodbending.
By now it’s obvious what the reveal is, but we have to make it more obvious. Back in the flashback, Aang pursues Yakone and uses Avatar State to free himself from Bloodbending, then he seals Yakone’s bending away. This allows Korra to connect the dots, and Tarrlok admits he is Yakone’s son.
Out of bloody nowhere, Amon and some Equalists (Including Bigroc) show up. Tarrlok beats the Equalists with Bloodbending, but Amon shows an ability to resist. This also seems to suggest Amon is actually a Waterbender.
Amon quickly takes Tarrlok’s bending away and tells Bigroc to electrocute the box Korra’s in to knock her out, despite the fact that Amon shouldn’t have known Korra was in a box or that said box was made of metal.
Korra manages to save herself by a process I’d rather not take the time to explain and surprises her would be recaptors.
Naga arrives and saves Korra, bringing her back to Republic City, where Mako can make her feel safe and make Asami look on in silent jealousy because DRAMA.
Next episode!
We start out with Asami continuing her character devolution by confronting Mako about that kiss she heard about, and for added parallel, we have Tenzin asking Lin to watch over his family and Pema being kind of a dick to Lin.
Next, we have the Equalists kidnapping the Fire Nation council member. Then they attack Tenzin, who proves once again he’s the man by repelling three Equalist attackers at once. Then he learns the other members were captured. Tenzin is the only one left standing, but Republic City gets attacked immediately by Equalist airships.
Surprisingly, it turns out new police chief Saikhan is not 100% a dick and earnestly wants to help the city, but his forces are spread too thin.
Tenzin sends out a message for help from some organization called the United Forces, then he helps the rest of the police force escape an Equalist gas attack until he’s outmatched in the form of five Equalist Mechatanks at once. Before Tenzin could be captured, the Team arrives to save the day. Before they can congratulate themselves, an airship arrives at Air Temple Island and raids the place.
Pema’s unborn child decides NOW is the time to be born. Wonderful.
Lin tries her best to keep the Equalists at bay, even employing some moves that would make a PSO2 Wired Lancer proud, but that whole being extra vulnerable to electrocution thing puts her down. But then…
BEST CHARACTER SAVES THE DAY! And… apparently straight out of starring in a Studio Ghibli movie.
Oh, and Ikki and Meelo show up as well, but… every time I see Meelo, I want him shot in the head.
I wish I could say something different, but anything less wouldn’t be appropriate. He’s ugly enough as it is. And not just visually.
Anyway, Pema’s baby is born, and Tenzin names him Rohan.
Um… okay. Rohan it is.
More airships approach, however. Tenzin urges Korra to escape, and the Team does so on the back of Naga… despite them utterly failing to ride Naga together just a couple episodes ago in a gag.
Naga also has an awesome moment by swatting Bigroc away like a bitch.
Not one to be outdone, Lin holds off the airships and proceeds to solo one and tries to take the other one out before getting wrecked.
Lin gets captured, and Amon takes her bending away.
The episode ends with General Iroh of the United Forces receiving a message that Amon has taken Republic City. He says he’s on his way to reclaim the city, and I go into hysterics because his looks are a complete mismatch with his voice. He’s voiced by Dante Basco, who makes NO changes to his regular Zuko voice. It’s far more hilarious than I could ever have imagined.
I just… good gawd. It’s like he’s not even talking. It’s like he moves his lips and Zuko is hiding somewhere doing ventriloquism. Was the voice director asleep when they recorded this? Jeeeeeeeeez!
Next episode!
Hiroshi Sato holds a victory rally while Korra and Mako scope it out in disguise.
Asami is still acting all pissy because DRAMA. Oh, and it seems the Team is hiding out in the sewer with the creepo from the park in the first episode.
So, Mako adds even more fuel to the fire by spending time with Korra while Asami’s giving him and Korra the ol’ evil eye.
Meanwhile, Amon has all the benders in Republic City gathered together while he takes away their bending one by one. It’s practically genocide.
General Iroh’s fleet of battleships arrive, but no airships or mechatanks are around to meet them. Instead, the ships get hit by a minefield, and FREAKING BIPLANES equipped with bombs and torpedoes lays waste to the entire fleet.
Korra saves Iroh’s life, and unfortunately we’re forced to sit through hearing his voice more.
If Dante Basco couldn’t change his voice for Iroh, then they should have changed Iroh’s design because GODDAMN, GUYS! THAT’S JUST WRONG!
To begin the counterattack, Zuko *cough* Iroh sends a message to Commander Bumi, who if you will recall is Tenzin’s brother.
Korra decides not to wait for the counterattack and decides to attack Amon directly. Mako decides to go with her and further make Asami jealous because… why the fuck not?
Korra and Mako sneak into Air Temple Island and find Tarrlok imprisoned in the attic. Tarrlok randomly reveals that Amon is actually his brother, and that Amon is (surprise surprise!) a Waterbender and Bloodbender.
We learn that they come from the Northern Water Tribe, where Yakone escaped to and started a family. Oh, and Amon’s real name is Noatak.
Turns out everything turned bad with Amon once Yakone revealed he’s a tremendous asshole and tells his sons to avenge him by retaking Republic City and killing the Avatar.
After years of teaching the brothers Bloodbending, Noatak masters the skill, then turns against Yakone and runs away. Tarrlok then says that when his bending was taken away, it felt like Noatak’s Bloodbending. He theorizes that Noatak learned to seal bending away through the use of Bloodbending… kind of like some kind of BS pressure point magic.
This also means that Amon’s story about his family being killed by a Firebender was complete and utter bullshit.
Korra comes up with a plan to expose Amon as a bender at the rally, turning the public against him for being a fraud.
Next episode!
The Team walks into an electric fence, putting an end to their attempt to take out the airfield.
At the rally, Korra employs her plan to force Amon to bend and reveal himself… by throwing baseless accusations at him, giving him the opportunity to pull off his trump card and reveal his burn-scarred face, countering Korra’s accusations.
He then reveals his second trump card.
Meanwhile, Hiroshi Sato fails to convince his daughter that he’s doing the right thing. Then he reveals that he intercepted Iroh’s message to Bumi and knows exactly where Bumi is hiding.
Overall, New Team Avatar is cornered on all fronts and kind of boned.
What are the chances we’re going to start hearing some Pro Bending references about turning everything around with a knockout soon?
Luckily, Naga once again saves everyone’s asses.
Amon announces he’s going to seal Airbending away forever (though I assume that could easily be countered by Tenzin making more babies… I don’t know how bending and genetics work exactly). Korra and Mako decide they’ve had enough and attack the stage, freeing the family.
Amusingly, Korra tells the girls to “follow me,” and the next shot is of the family entering a hallway with Korra following behind them.
Korra and Mako provide a distraction, but Amon kinda curbstomps them with Bloodbending.
Amon then seemingly seals Korra’s bending away… but I know there’s at least two more seasons after this, so that seems unlikely.
While the Team takes out the runways, Naga has Bolin’s back and manages to take out THREE mechatanks at once. Seriously, Naga is MVP.
While Asami wrecks the Equalist vehicles, Hiroshi arrives and attacks her. Bolin comes in for the rescue, and Asami finishes him off (by which I mean sends stun bolas at him).
Back to Amon, it turns out Bigroc saw everything and decides to turn against his would-be master.
The distraction proves to be just enough for Mako to somehow break free and attack Amon with lightning.
Mako picks Korra up and tries to escape with her, but he gets Bloodbent from behind (*cough*) and Amon threatens to take his bending away. Korra wants none of that and delivers her first Airbending strike at Amon.
I guess Amon was only able to seal away the bending Korra knew. That, or sealing away the other three types allowed her to focus on Airbending. Whatever the case, it’s still BS.
Korra’s counterattack is short-lived, as Amon bloodbends her… but then she counters with another Airbending blast, sending Amon flying out and into the water.
The public is now ready to attack the Avatar for being a tyrant, but Amon has no desire to be a martyr and saves himself through Waterbending, outing himself.
Amon/Noatak escapes, but not before returning to Tarrlok and freeing him so the two can start again.
It seems Tarrlok took him up on the offer, but he looks at the Equalist gloves on the side and comes up with a different plan.
Back in the Southern Water Tribe, Korra is healed by Katara, but her connection to the other three elements remains gone.
Mako also tells her he loves her… um, okay.
Korra runs off to be alone, and that’s when she finally connects to her spiritual self and meets her past lives.
It’s at this point I realize the reason Korra hasn’t gone into Avatar State yet is because of her lack of connection to her spiritual side. Well, better late than never, I suppose.
It seems Aang restored Korra’s bending, and after a showcase of all four of her types, we see Mako is behind her, and they finally establish their mutual love for each other.
It also seems Aang has bestowed her with the ability to restore bending to those who had their bending sealed. Um… please don’t say you’re going to restore the gang members’ bending, because… that would be stupid.
Also, I look forward to Asami being villain next season just out of pure love jealousy.
Though to be fair to the writers, I was totally off on the Pro Bending thing, and I was completely wrong about Tarrlok and Amon being in cahoots. It was obvious that there was a connection between them, but… Tarrlok was helping Amon completely by accident? Which means he was being a complete dick for no reason but incompetence?
But that was one hell of a finale. If there’s one thing Avatar does exceedingly well, it’s sieges. And the backstory and final scene between the brothers… wow. Just spectacular.
But the weird thing is that the conclusion felt like a series finale. I mean, things were pretty much wrapped up nicely, and we don’t have a teaser for where the series goes after this. If the episode had ended on Korra being left with only Airbending, no connection to the other elements, and no connection to the spirits, that could have been something to look forward to… but we’ve got nothing but a mysterious fresh new start. Not that that’s bad, but… there’s nothing to whet the appetite and very little hype.