lizbee | (no subject)

Aside from Bolin/Eska, I approved of things. Especially sticking the judge's head in a polar bear dog. So many good decisions Korra.

To quote Tumblr, she chose the thug life, and the thug life welcomed her.

ALSO, on a worldbuilding level, I find it really cool that Korra thinks the Avatar should be neutral and non-judgemental (even though she's not very good at that) because Aang restored balance by stopping a war -- and now she's realising that there are cases where the right thing to do is to pick a side and defend it.

Yeah – I saw a lot of people dismiss this out of turn, like it was ridiculous that Korra would think she should be a neutral actor. Which... what? It makes sense that there would be definite question as to whether and when the Avatar should become involved in political disagreements and conflicts in the world, particularly when they're solely within one nation. Too little involvement and you're ineffective, but too much and you're basically being a world dictator. And in this case it's more complicated by the fact that it directly involves her relatives. At this point I think Unalaq's actions have crossed the line from intra-nation conflict to threat to world balance (especially, for instance, with the involvement of the spirits and whatever the portal thing is), but having Korra appeal to another more earthly authority for help, rather than just going all Avatar State on whomever she disagrees with, makes sense in this case, which is closer to that 'interfering' line than the Fire Nation Trying To Invade Everyone was. And politicking with those authorities is something the Avatar should do.

Of course, Korra's strengths are not... in politicking, but. That's part of the drama!

Yes, exactly!

It especially makes sense that the Avatar's role can change from generation to generation. And the shifting political boundaries, too, complicate things. None of the other Avatars had an effectively neutral nation to call upon for support.

I mean, I also kind of feel like threatening even corrupt judges with death by polar bear dog is not a great move, but it's entirely consistent with Korra's personality, and also I'm pretty sure she was bluffing.

Yeah, I agree. Even just with the Water Tribe conflict - it can be read as just a dispute between two heirs to the title, but also as a rift between the South and the North, which represents a larger-scale issue. (And that's not even touching whatever the spirit thing going on is.) Any intranational conflict was only implied or very limited in A:TLA (the two instances that immediately come to mind for me are the Earth Kingdom soldiers in "Zuko Alone" and Chin the Conqueror in "Avatar Day"), probably because the Fire Nation was acting as an outside, aggressive force that is no longer present.

I don't think there's any doubt Korra would not have actually had Naga bite that guy's head off. The only time I think she was serious about possibly killing him was when her father's life was threatened. And no, I mean, it wasn't a great move - I thought the judge probably then immediately tipped off Unalaq, which enabled him to clear out the prisoners so fast. But it was a Korra move. Acting rash and violent when her loved ones are threatened makes total sense for her. I don't know, it's like people are perpetually surprised when Korra doesn't act how Aang would (or maybe how they would, as I think Aang was more of an everyman protagonist than Korra is), and it's just... no kidding! They're different people!

(or maybe how they would, as I think Aang was more of an everyman protagonist than Korra is)

And also, we've had several years for the fandom to sort of build Aang up in their minds as an all-around-perfect hero guy. And no doubt he was a really great Avatar (and probably not actually that bad a dad), but his legacy is a lot for Korra to live up to.

Which is why I think Tenzin is such a great mentor for her -- they're both living with that legacy, and trying very hard to fit into a mould that doesn't quite suit them.

I think that was the element of her storyline I appreciated the most. Because, of course, the AUDIENCE (and Korra's In-World audience as well!) are all under the impression that the Avatar should be a neutral party... because Roku (maybe) and Aang were, but we get the impression from spirit visits that a. Roku ended up DEEPLY regretting his neutrality, and b. Aang's neutrality is deeply uncharacteristic of Avatars, maybe even uncharacteristic of airbending Avatars.

I mean, we get the impression that Yangcheng was no shirking princess, let alone Kiyoshi. So in that respect Korra is maybe just a reversion to type.