Surprised, but pleasantly so, by that ending! I preferred Korra to Avatar in every way except for humour and Zuko's incredibly believable character arc, and I'm very sad to see it end. I doubt we'll see another series set in that universe based on how the network has been acting, but I've loved the ride. Some of the best TV I've seen in a long time.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
There is one thing that's still bothering me about the series as a whole: just where are they getting all that fucking platinum anyway?! Platinum is really rare on Earth, and okay maybe their planet has gobs of it just falling out of the rocks, but still. It's whole point is that it can't be controlled by metalbenders, so I can't imagine it would be easy to find or mine even if it was much more abundant than on Earth... is there a mountain of it somewhere that they've been whittling down in an offscreen industrial operation of staggering scale?
It reminds me of the whole Star Wars EU thing where they created materials resistant to lightsabers - which suddenly everyone and their entire armies are outfitted with.
I can't deny loving where they took us with it, but a little explanation for the sheer scale of their miraculous platinum-finding powers would've been nice. I have to admit to rolling my eyes when they first attack the [redacted]. "Oh, it's all made out of platinum!"
... of course it is...
I had a hiccup with all of the mechs. In a world that seems to be at the technological level of the early 20th century it seemed a large leap - a very large one even in a magical world of people who can control the elements. And also for large metal suits they were incredibly agile and mobile.
It was weird, dissonant.
Nevermind the incredibly unwieldy one made of the unbendable metal. I can't make you think differently about it. With the ability to utilize (by force or other) the abilities of all of the Earth Kingdom benders, I don't think mining for things would be difficult. How they find any particular metal may or may not be an issue. Without better knowledge of how bending works it's hard to say.
If you think about how Toph happened across metal bending itself, I'd think mining ventures might be similar. One would "feel" for a what they're looking for and bend the earth to get at it. Particularly adept earth benders might be able to feel platinum but be unable to affect it.
My assumption is that "platinum" is just what they call non bendable metal, similar to people calling things tin cans even though tin isn't used anymore. Given that I assume earth benders are used not only to mine but to purify the mined ore I could see it indirectly purifying unbendable metals. Since bendable metals are probably easier to build out of, it would come to reason they would just have a pile of "don't use, can't bend" metal sitting around. While we think of platinum being expensive, there was probably some cabbage sales and scrap metal LLC that was like "we can't move this crap and we need powerlifts just to literally move it!" "Hey I hear the great liberator wants a bunch of this junk!" "Woo, if she takes it all, I'll also make her tea!"
I had a hiccup with all of the mechs. In a world that seems to be at the technological level of the early 20th century it seemed a large leap....
The technology level was very clearly advanced steampunk - I agree mecha suits were a bit out there, but they were not so far away from things we'd seen earlier.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
I've been binge watching Legend of Korra. Currently, I am catching up on Season Two. I have to say that I really like the show, although I am only three episodes in. I can't wait to catch up to the rest of the episodes.
__________________
Allan Glenn. 1984-2005 RIP
Under no circumstances should Quentin Tarantino be allowed to befoul Star Trek.
Having to watch this online vs on the TV has made it difficult for me to keep up. But, the Big One and I finally watched all of Book 4 and wow.
Just wow.
I'm ambivalent about the end of the Avatar-verse as we know it. Or at least, how unlikely it is that we will return to visit them. On the one hand, I love the stories and wanted to see a full cycle of Avatars, from Air to Water to Earth and back to Fire. On the other hand, there might not be that many stories left.
As much as I love Korra, there were multiple episodes that seemed to be stretching out the creativity quite thin. But, this season was just about perfect.
Korra has definitely changed a great deal, though I'm not sure she lacked compassion for her enemies. It seems that she always fought them person, but not necessarily the ideals they espoused. On second thought, maybe I'm wrong. Her compassion was for her enemies as people and not just adversaries.
This is why I've always loved this series and the one before it. It makes you think.
As for Korrasami. I've got nothing to add. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's perfect.
I only wish that Korra could commune with the former Avatars. Maybe they felt that they want back to that well too many times in Aang's series. But, man, it would have been nice to see Aang again.
Korra having her connection removed reminds me a bit of Sci Fi shows where they give the heros a super weapon/power and then find ways to break it because they realize all their conflict could be solved with Step #1: Use gadget, Step #2: Nap.
While it would have been cool to see Aang again, it made Zahir and the rebirth of the airbenders even more interesting cause Korra couldn't just call up the Avatar friend of Zahir's favorite Guru, and get 1000 years of guidance for how to rebuild the air nation.
As far as continuation of the universe I think they've hit a good ending point, as right now there are three main options, go back in time and explore the stories of previous avatars (I would totally watch a set of mini stories about different avatars), follow Korra into the spirit world and the direct after math or advance the universe again which would either put it to modern day or futuristic, which while cool doesn't seem to match the feel of the previous avatars.
Although I would also love if someone besides Nick picked it up (maybe do a live action Korra, with a real director and actual creator input) as some of my issues with Korra are really issues with Nick. Yeah we would love for you to do a 4 part mini series, oh we mean 13 episode series, oh we mean a 4 season series, oh but only 12 episodes for the final season.
[realizing I started a sentence and then failed to finish it]
The Mech suits are a bit unbelievable in their smoothness but otherwise fit well with the theme of avatar being about human form battling each other. I did like that we saw a transition from on treads industry bots to full formed militarized weapons. While we did get to see non benders use them, it's always possible they had internal metal bits meant to be bent by metal benders to control their stability and movement. It was clear by the end of the battle with [redacted] that she was partly connected to the internals.
Related to the finale,
The humming bird wasp suits are similar in technology that seems totally feasible when drawing it but is way more complex in real life.
I liked that we got to see the great uniter crack, even before Korra took a blast for her, you could see her panic as she tries to switch the gun off. Basically it's the first time she's ever been truely out of control, and look it's at the controls of a super weapon! In a touch of reality I did like that the final explosion from the obvious nuke sized weapon was the dusty blast wave followed by a reverse wave as the air slams back into the low pressure bubble that just formed.
I know that I took forever to catch up with Korra and now that I've finally done so, I'm sad. I want more.
This series resonated more with me than Aang's. Maybe because it's more "grown up' and deal with themes that relate to me better. I felt more in common with Korra than I did Aang. Korra seemed lost and unsure of what she should do, despite having everyone look to her. And then when she had an answer, everyone seemed to not trust her. Her frustration and loss of confidence were palpable.
From this point on, there will be spoilers for the entire series.
On the issue of the final pairing. I have nothing to say except . Their relationship was beautifully done. I would definitely like to see how they turn out. In any case, I think the way they ended with Korra and Asami traveling into the Spirit World together hand in hand was a lovely capstone to end the series.
I have to admit to really liking the Great Uniter in spite of all the fucked up shit she did. I strongly suspect that at the outset of her mission to stabilize the Earth Kingdom that her intentions were noble. What I think happened is that she got a taste of power and was corrupted by it in the end. In that sense, she's almost sympathetic. I think it wasn't until the very end that she realized she was in the wrong.
Another aspect of the series I really enjoyed was the growth of Korra throughout the series. When we are first introduced to her, she is brimming with confidence and the belief that she can take anyone on. Throughout the series from Amon onto Zaheer in the season three finale, that confidence was slowly but surely chipped away until it finally shattered when he nearly killed her.
I think how they showed how that trauma badly affected her was very well done throughout the first half of the season and made her growth into a more compassionate individual more believable. Simply put, her character arc was beautifully done. I will definitely miss this show.
__________________
Allan Glenn. 1984-2005 RIP
Under no circumstances should Quentin Tarantino be allowed to befoul Star Trek.
This is my piece for the upcoming The Legend of Korra / Avatar: The Last Airbender Tribute Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus, opening this Saturday, March 7th, 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Mike and I will be there doing a signing for the first half of the reception (there are a limited number of spots in the signing line, but I’m not sure how they are working that), and hanging out for the rest.
As for this piece, I used and modified Emily Tetri's production painting of Harmony Tower (designed by Lee Jung-Su). Otherwise, I drew and painted the rest of it. I based the turtle-duck boats on the charming swan boats I saw while visiting Ueno Park in Tokyo.
Steven Universe is really, really good. I was still on the fence, enjoying it passively, but toward and through the end of Season 1... I am definitely off the fence. It is awesome, and you should be watching it.
Steven Universe is really, really good. I was still on the fence, enjoying it passively, but toward and through the end of Season 1... I am definitely off the fence. It is awesome, and you should be watching it.
I have thought about watching Steven Universe with The Kid, but decided to wait until Adventure Time finishes out its last season later this year.
She and I'll need a new show to buddy up to once Finn and Jake 'venture off into the sunset.