This review contains spoilers.
1.6 And the Winner Is...
This week's episode of The Legend of Korra is the most action-packed yet, at the same time managing to advance multiple plots and give us some great character moments. Needless to say, it's a vast improvement over last week's teenage angst love square and my faith is restored.
My favorite thing about this show is the way it delves into the past. Unlike some spin-off shows that feel like they have little to no connection to the original, The Legend of Korra is intrinsically tied in with the events of The Last Airbender. A good example of that is when Tenzin talks about growing up with Lin and how she and Aang got along well, or how Lin muses that she can't believe someone as spiritual as Aang reincarnated as Korra. We are never very far from the characters we knew and loved, and it makes the transition into the new show easier.
And speaking of Tenzin and Lin, this episode confirms what I've been suspecting since the first episode but only voiced last week: they have a history together, specifically a romantic one, and it was in fact Lin that he left to marry Pema. The situation is too complicated for me to feel comfortable passing judgment - Tenzin explains to Korra that he and Lin had been growing apart before he met Pema - and who am I to judge any of them without the benefit of actually seeing what went down all those years ago? That's the beauty of the situation, really, from a writing standpoint: it's not black and white and there isn't anyone who is completely right or completely wrong. It's just a sad situation all around.
From an animation standpoint, this episode featured some of the series' best work. The pro-bending matches were beautifully drawn, as was the battle between Korra, Lin, and the Equalists.
Interestingly, Amon's speech in the arena contains a few key words that stood out to me. At one point, he refers to bending being "unnatural" and I'm sure that I don't need to tell you about the real world parallel there.
But perhaps more relevantly to the discussion that's been going on in the comments (which is amazing; thank you so much for sharing your theories and thoughts with me) is that he mentions that thanks to technology, everyone now has the ability to have a chi-blocker at their fingertips. Last week, commenter anonymous12 theorized that perhaps Mr. Sato and Asami were secretly Equalists, and that maybe Mr. Sato got the technology to build his Satomobiles from Amon. After hearing Amon specifically mention technology here, and thinking back to my review a few weeks ago about the lightning rods Equalists use being comparable to the bending firebenders can do, I started to wonder: is it possible that they really are working together?
This episode was action-packed and gave me so much to think about, while also progressing multiple plots and delving deeper into the relationships between Tenzin, Lin, and Korra. What an amazing improvement over last week's episode!
So what do you think? Is it possible that the Satos are working with the Equalists to create all this technology? Are you upset with Tenzin and Pema for what they did to Lin, or do you just feel sorry for everyone involved? Are you shocked that the Fire Ferrets lost the pro-bending championship? As always, I can't wait to hear your thoughts.
Read our review of last week's episode, The Spirit of Competition, here.
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