Legend of Korra 1.10: "Turning the Tides"

[lizbee]

EXCUSE ME, IT APPEARS TO BE RAINING ON MY FACE.

Things which never fail to make me emotional (in a good way):  characters knowingly walking towards inevitable death or destruction, hoping that the outcome is worth it.  THAT LADY IS MY HERO.  She fought for the future of airbending, and refused to give up Korra, and in doing so lost her bending, and with it a strong connection with her mother.

I also love stories about characters who have suffered great losses rebuilding their lives.  I WANT ALL THE FIC, GUYS.  ALL THE FIC.  And maybe a whole series just about Lin Beifong. 

(I also note that Lin paid attention to Sokka, Toph and Suki's tales of airship-destruction, and also took lessons from Zuko and Azula in Airship Surfing 101.)

(Someone on white_lotus is arguing that this is (a) a sexist punishment of Lin for being single, and also (b) the tragedy of losing one's bending is being overplayed.  MY EYEROLLS, LET ME SHOW YOU. I was going to compare it to a disease that leaves one physically disabled, but it's more like a physical assault. To me, anyway.)

Also, GENERAL IROH.  I am kind of side-eye at the naming, because everything I've read says that most Asian cultures avoid naming people after others, but hey, we already had Azula being named for Azulon.  I feel kind of bad for him, though, because while Dante Basco is almost 40, he sounds perennially 15.  I'm guessing he's the son of the current Fire Lord (and, I think Bumi, who is seen wearing the same collar as other Fire Nation royals in the scanned family tree), but until proven otherwise, I choose to believe that he was an unexpected change-of-life baby for Zuko and Mai.  (Not least because he looks way too pale to be Bumi's son, although obviously Tenzin is also very pale, and genetics can work oddly like that.) 

(I have this whole fanon worked out for the royal family, with Fire Lord Honoria actually being Zuko and Mai's second child, and only becoming the crown princess after the death of her older brother in early adulthood.  Which is purely because another narrative I enjoy is people being unexpectedly put in situations they're not quite prepared for, and finding that they can cope and thrive.  Anyway, I'm going to be super-irate [not really, I HOPE] when the show gives me some other kind of story all together.)

It does worry me a little, though, that apparently the United Republic's army is three days away from its capital city.  IDK, was it off waging war on Kyoshi Island or something?  IT SEEMS POORLY PLANNED, IS ALL. 

Oh, oh, oh, and TENZIN.  It seemed almost like a relief when he was attacked outside the council building, like he could stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and defend himself without worrying about his family.  But no, they were just saving Air Temple Island as a last resort.  (I have so much side-eye for people who still say they're on Amon's side, btw, when he has shown himself more than willing to wipe out the last half-dozen remnants of a culture and tradition destroyed by genocide.)  It was cool to see him finally letting loose in a proper fight. 

OH WAIT, WERE THERE OTHER CHARACTERS IN THIS EPISODE?  OH RIGHT, AIRBABIES.  So great, those kids.  Aang would be proud.  Except maybe of the fartbending, but I'm possibly projecting there.  I SHARE LIN'S FEELINGS ABOUT MEELO.  So does delphi, and you can pretty much just read her post and assume I agree with everything. 

Comments

[selvage]

SNOT-FACED CRYING EVERYWHERE

TENZIN FEELS

LIN FEELS

KORRA FEELS

AIRBENDING FEELS

NOT HAVING A HUGE AMOUNT OF FEELS FOR MAKO, ASAMI OR BOLIN TBQH BUT PROBABLY THAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT WEEK

SCUSE CAPSYNESS

[lizbee]

FRANKLY I HAVE TOO MANY FEELS FOR LIN AND TENZIN AND IROH TO HAVE ROOM FOR ANYONE ELSE

[nonelvis]

I also note that Lin paid attention to Sokka, Toph and Suki's tales of airship-destruction, and also took lessons from Zuko and Azula in Airship Surfing 101.

OMG YES. I literally watched that scene with my jaw drapped, thinking about how Lin was so much her mother's daughter -- which of course made what happened to her later that much harder to watch.

Someone on white_lotus is arguing that this is (a) a sexist punishment of Lin for being single, and also (b) the tragedy of losing one's bending is being overplayed.

I am going to do my best not to read that post, because life is too short, and I cannot actually smack people through the computer screen. Yet.

[lizbee]

OMG YES. I literally watched that scene with my jaw drapped, thinking about how Lin was so much her mother's daughter -- which of course made what happened to her later that much harder to watch.

*nod*

Then I got to picturing what would happen if this had all played out a generation earlier, and Toph's bending had been taken. Tell me again, fandom, how it's not really a tragedy.

[unjapanologist]

Liiiiiiin. That was awful and yet so very powerful.

guessing he's the son of the current Fire Lord (and, I think Bumi, who is seen wearing the same collar as other Fire Nation royals in the scanned family tree)

The collar just means Bumi is in the military too, though? We'd need to reconsider a LOT of character relationships if wearing the same uniform means people are related :D Picturing Zhao going "Zuko, I am your father" now.

Fighting Tenzin is utterly awesome. He should have been unleashed ages ago, he's wasted on all those phone calls and council meetings.

God, I hope Zuko is on that ship too, playing Uncle to his son/grandson. I think I must draw this.

[angrymermaids]

I've been lurking for ages. Surprise stalker comment!

a sexist punishment of Lin for being single

Are people really saying this? Really? REALLY?
Thanks, fandom, for projecting your issues onto this incredibly poignant and very interesting storyline.

[cereta]

I love how very much like a little kid Meelo is.

And Lin Bei Fong > Everyone.

[lizbee]

We'd need to reconsider a LOT of character relationships if wearing the same uniform means people are related :D Picturing Zhao going "Zuko, I am your father" now.

Dammit, good point. Why do I let myself be convinced by Tumblr posts? (Would Zhao be an improvement over Ozai, I wonder?)

God, I hope Zuko is on that ship too, playing Uncle to his son/grandson. I think I must draw this.

I REALLY THINK YOU MUST.

[lizbee]

I've been lurking for ages. Surprise stalker comment!

Oh, hi! OMG I love your fic!

Thanks, fandom, for projecting your issues onto this incredibly poignant and very interesting storyline.

Remember that scene where Tenzin explained that he broke up with Lin because she couldn't have kids, and what he really needed was a brood mare for the next generation of airbenders, and he understands Pema's not very bright, but ~~~CHILDREN~~~!!! ?

Yeah, me neither.

[angrymermaids]

I guess certain people just cry "SEXISM!!!1" whenever something unfortunate or unfair happens to any female character. Because we all know that if female characters have bad things happen to them, it's because writers are all misogynists. Not because it was plot-relevant or anything. THEY JUST HATE WOMEN. And don't get me started on all the mother-hate that goes on.

[unjapanologist]

Or are there some particular FN royal family markings on Bumi's collar? I can't tell on my phone. Anyway, I like the theory that he's a latecomer Maiko baby. If he was directly in line for the throne, maybe he'd be commanding the FN army instead of mucking around in the United Forces navy. Unless there is no more FN army.

BTW, how about Iroh/Lin?

[lizbee]

I've decided that when Korra is over, I'm going to rewatch AtLA through the prism of LoK fandom. For example, why is Katara so hung up on being the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe? Really, she should be grateful to the Fire Nation for removing so much privilege in just a couple of generations! But then, her own mother died to keep her safe, which is kind of the ultimate expression of [tick as applicable] bender privilege / misogynistic scriptwriting / the dangerous and sexist cliché that most mothers care about their children.

...ow, my head hurts.

[lizbee]

I don't know if Bryke have kids, but I'm guessing if they don't, people close to them do. Because Meelo is just perfect. (I hope that by the time he comes of an age to begin his plans for world domination, though, he's moved on from fartbending. Otherwise, the world won't stand a chance.)

[lizbee]

If he was directly in line for the throne, maybe he'd be commanding the FN army instead of mucking around in the United Forces navy.

Yeah, it would be kind of sketchy to have a future head of state commanding another nation's military! (Unless Fire Lord Honoria has gone for world domination by stealth, I guess.)

BTW, how about Iroh/Lin?

She does need a boy toy. On the other hand, my fanon that her other mother is Azula means they're somehow related. So I've settled for Korra/Iroh, because I do enjoy an age gap, even if it is only a decade or so.

(The actualfax OUTRAGE that Dante Basco is voicing an adult character is kind of boggling, though, since I just did the maths, and Basco is going on 37.)

[unjapanologist]

She does need a boy toy.

She has a harem of boy toys, she rescued them from Amon an episode ago. My Azula-is-Lin's-mommy headcanon is not quite that strong and even if it were, this would not be an issue for me, so I think I'll take Lin/Iroh unless it turns out that Iroh also has his own harem. In that case, they can merge their harems and be happy ever after.

I did find the voice a tad strange on that face, but I guess it'll get a lot more natural if we see him more and get beyond the "omg it's Zuko's voice" thing.

[tellitslant]

if this had all played out a generation earlier, and Toph's bending had been taken

YES This is exactly what I was thinking in that last shot of a close-up on Lin's eye, actually. And seriously, there are people who are arguing that it's what, an inconvenience? Ugh.

[lizbee]

Yeah, there's an argument -- you can see an example in the episode post at white_lotus -- that the tragedy of losing one's bending is being overplayed, and it's an insult to non-benders. Which troubles me, since the first series very explicitly framed bending as a cultural heritage that's already been repressed and, in places, irretrievably lost.

[delphi]

Remember that scene where Tenzin explained that he broke up with Lin because she couldn't have kids, and what he really needed was a brood mare for the next generation of airbenders, and he understands Pema's not very bright, but ~~~CHILDREN~~~!!! ?

See, and here I was actually liking that Tenzin and Lin broke up, because I'm not the hugest fan of the "your first love interest is your soulmate for life" trope, and I liked the maturity of showing that two people who get involved early in life can grow in different directions. But I guess I missed the part where I was supposed to think that Lin isn't awesome, so I could understand why she would require narrative comeuppance.

[angrymermaids]

What. I can't. What.

The saddest thing is, I've heard some of those sentiments before. What's she supposed to say? "Thank you, invading imperialists, for wiping out a big chunk of my cultural heritage, just so no one is better than anyone else." Gag me.

the dangerous and sexist cliché that most mothers care about their children.

I've heard people use this to gripe about Ursa, saying that it's sexist writing that she was apparently "just a mom" and not anything else. Which also makes me want to punch things.

[skipthedemon]

*nodsnods* I can almost see why Amon thinks a Republic City without bending is the way to go. Its citizens seem to think of themselves as citizens of the city first, and whatever their ethnic heritage is second. Eliminating bending erodes barriers not just between class, but potentially between those ethnic groups. I'm not endorsing him, just saying within the microcosm of the city, I see where that outlook comes from.

But the rest of world has long divided itself up into nations based on what elements the population has an affinity for, via bending. What the heck does he think is going to happen when he removes those affinities, stripping them of a large part of their identity without a meltingpot to be part of? Political and social chaos for a long time, I'd think.

[archangelbeth]

Aang would totally be proud of fart-bending. And secretly jealous he never thought of it. But pretending that it's terribly undignified in public.

Dangit, if Amon is using the form of real bending-removal that Aang can, then... he is a master of psychological warfare. (Well, duh.) Because very few people know the risk of the bending-removal going the other way, and he picked relatively weak-willed people to start, now every bender who faces him is going OH CRAP OH CRAP OH CRAP and not fighting back. Lin gave up! Okay, it was dignity. But. Still. *cries that she didn't get to turn all glowy and take Amon's lifebending instead*

Lin is still awesome.

*points to her LJ for a scene she wants to see with General Iroh (jr.) vs. Amon*

We will assume that the General's Navy was Out On Maneuvers. Either that, or they are some fast ships! Which is also possible. "Why, yes, of course we are fast. We have the non-military metal-benders working on streamlining our hulls, and we have water-benders helping to speed us on our way as well as provide water for the boilers that our fire-benders heat, so that we move along with the power of STEAM! We are hopeful that in a few generations, we can incorporate air-benders into our Need for Aquatic Speed and Grandeur. ...no, shush, Fire Lord Zuko totally didn't have trauma from his years in exile and being on a slow, teeny boat."

[lizbee]

I would LOVE to have that scene! I really, really hope General Iroh is a non-bender, and that's why he's in the Republic City military instead of the Fire Nation.

[chocolatepot]

Dante Basco is almost 40

GET OUT OF HERE. Can't stop loling.

Also, yeah, so tired of everything always having to do with characters' reproductive statuses.

[archangelbeth]

Second-best is if he is a nearly-incompetent firebender ("...Tea Ceremony Agni Kai? No, really, I make a wicked hot tea. You will never beat me.") who has focused on the leet ninja skills handed down by Mai.

("My... my bending! You have ruined my ability to heat my own tea! FOR THIS, AMON, YOU SHALL PAY!")

[holyschist]

the tragedy of losing one's bending is being overplayed.

I'm not sure that ALOK has made it clear how and why this is a big deal, but I thought it was pretty darn clear in ATLA--I mean, taking Ozai's bending was a Big Moral Conflict for Aang, one of the cruxes of the series. But I kind of feel like ATLA was more clear and less vague about the spiritual aspects of bending in general. (Maybe that person has not seen ATLA?)

[infiniteviking]

LIN IN THIS EPISODE WAS THE ONE THING I HADN'T BEEN SPOILED FOR AND I JUST GOT TO THIS EPISODE AND WANNA CRY SO I CAME OVER HERE TO CAPSLOCKSPAM BECAUSE LIIIIIIIN. ;____________;