History Awesome / TheLegendOfKorra

* This amazing piece of art: [[http://avatarparallels.tumblr.com/post/108080222529/pugletto-worldbending-north-america Worldbending.]]

* The ''animation alone'' is this! Look at the snow fall in "The Spirit of Competition" and tell me that the animation isn't among some of the most beautiful you've seen.
** The scenes in the last third of "And The Winner Is..." when Lin and Korra take on the Equalists (partially in ''mid-air'') are among the most amazing and smoothly animated fight-scenes seen in [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra both]] [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender series]] and possibly all of WesternAnimation.
** Then comes Tarlokk's awesome waterbending in "When Extremes Meet", it's like a seamless integration of a liquid deflector shield and a machine gun of ice.

* The new opening sequence dramatically contrasts the first series, showcasing the power and the skill of the Avatars.
** Avatar Kyoshi rips up massive slabs of earth from the ground and flings them with a terrifying fury (if this doesn't look too impressive next to the earthbenders in this series, remember that Kyoshi was doing this about ''450 years ago'')
** Avatar Roku's movements are pure serenity, sweeping and throwing unpredictable gouts of flames that could probably stand up to a comet-powered firebender, his patterns moving like a phoenix (at one point he fires a massive bolt with his ''fingers'')
** Avatar Aang moves from one ridiculous pose to another, balancing and pivoting on one finger, airbending with his feet, all the while maintaining perfect poise and precision, showing that airbenders can be free while still having complete control over their skills
* There's also the fact that Amon managed to achieve MagnificentBastard status in record time... SIX EPISODES! Technically only three as he's only had major appearances in three. At this rate he just might steal Azula's status as the greatest MagnificentBastard in WesternAnimation since [[TropeNamer you-know-who.]]
** Come episode eight and it looks like he's going to spend the rest of the series competing fiercely with Tarrlok for that particular title. To elaborate, Tarrlok needed three episodes to establish himself as a ManipulativeBastard wielding FantasticRacism, but it took ''just those last five minutes where he fought Korra'' to put him right up there with Amon.
*** And then in the ''next'' episode, Amon decided not to take that shit and promptly took away Tarrlok's bending before driving him away in a van. Amon is awesome.
** The ultimate success with Amon is that in the end there's no MotiveRant, there's no explanation. Evidence is presented that leaves the audience wondering whether Amon's motives are pure or not in such a way that there's no clear answer. And it works!

** If the previews are anything to go by, benders in Republic City will now be lined up and systemically de-powered by Amon. It's so close to the gas chambers of the Holocaust it's downright terrifying.
*** Not to mention the summary executions of "Enemies of the People" carried out following the Communist revolutions in China and Russia.
** And the season one finale has a completely straight-faced, not ambiguous in the slightest murder-suicide. At this point, one wonders if the show has any network oversight at all.
*** You know a show's ballsy, when it pitches dark tones that not even adult shows like ''FamilyGuy'' dare to take on.
*** General Iroh blows up a biplane in mid-air, quickly enough that the pilot had no chance to escape.
*** R.I.P. the Radar: beginning of the Hays Code to 6/23/2012.

* At the end of "Turning The Tide", the commander of the United forces is voiced by Creator/DanteBasco. And is name is ''General Iroh''.
** We all saw it coming, but the entire execution of the reveal. There's a shot of the front of the ship that slowly backs up to show the back of one man who's clearly in command. A man comes up from offscreen and the shot shifts to the front, but most of his face is still obscured. The man mentions that there's a wire from the Avatar that Republic City has been taken. Then the music amps up and his face is finally revealed. He's got Zuko's eyes, and he turns to the man and says "Tell her we will be arriving in three day's time, and that I look forward to winning back Republic City together" in Zuko's voice.
*** For German fans the fact that they gave Korra!Iroh the same voice as Aang!Zuko as well. In Germany when dubbing animation, it is usally cast by what fits the character as voice actors don't have fixed dub voices (unlike actors). Somebody paid REALLY close attention here.

* The fact that [=LoK=] has gathered '''two more Books'''. Considering how this was originally introduced as a miniseries, that's pretty impressive!
** Thats in addition to the second Book it got ''before even airing''.
* Aang's last line in the series. It takes a bit of Fridge to understand the awesomeness behind it; it was at around this point that Aang himself went through great conflict when he was tasked with stopping Ozai. What he says to Korra directly correlates to what ''he went through'' in the final hours of his own series. Katara smiling while Korra restored Lin's bending just seals it; Katara was the sole person not amazed by the act, but rather seemed to have been expecting it.

* If you thought that the grisly and dark combat sequences in Book 1 were awesome enough, how about the fact that they were able to get away with the Earth Queen being ''suffocated by airbending'' in "Long Live the Queen"?
** P'li later ''[[YourHeadAsplode blew up her own head]]'' (though with another GoryDiscretionShot) in "Enter the Void".
** You know what ''didn't'' have a GoryDiscretionShot? Mako killing Ming-Hua via electrocution. So much for BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork.

** The fight sequence in the finale was also the best one since, well, the finale in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', with all the characters kicking ass in their highest forms. In the extras for the episode, the director refers to it as the biggest action scene in the history of western television.

* This [[http://element-of-change.tumblr.com/post/104288589969/irisflower101-team-avatar-doing-team-avatar-in fanart]] featuring the modern-day version of The New Team Avatar or the Krew.

* [[http://korratea.tumblr.com/post/106539848714/niuner-hello-tumblr-im-still-alive-heres-a Team Avatar driving a cool car.]]
* [[http://waterbendingelite.tumblr.com/post/106554511169/screw-writing-strong-women-write-interesting Screw writing "strong women":]] Korra version.
* [[http://korr-a-sami.tumblr.com/post/106809633660/beroberos-hey-guys-im-going-off-to-college-in#notes This impressive animation]] for Book 2.
* Doubles as Heartwarming: How the show demonstrated with the failed couples Tenzin/Lin, Asami/Mako, Korra/Mako, and even Bolin/Eska can still be [[AmicableExes great friends.]]
* Disney/{{Mulan}} parody: [[http://disney-rapunzel-merida-vanellope.tumblr.com/post/107453918704/usapotterfan-norhuu-duckypooop-novur Send Me Daughters.]]

* [[http://trivia-goddess.tumblr.com/post/106290928074/dongbufeng-pretty-cool-finale-promo-from-nick This promo]] starring the [[BadassFamily Beifong family.]]
* [[http://im-still-flying.tumblr.com/post/106294323816/badass-women-of-avatar-update-of-this-post The Badass Women]] of the ''Avatar'' franchise.
* [[http://polarbeardog.tumblr.com/post/106370380050/motorcyclles-heres-a-gif-version-of-korras A gifset]] of Korra's journey.

* [[http://avatarparallels.tumblr.com/post/106352915535/reminder-that-avatar-the-last-airbender-begins A reminder]] that ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' begins with a young girl calling out her brother on his sexism and ''The Legend of Korra'' ends with two women falling in love.
* Doubles as Heartwarming: [[http://ohmykorra.tumblr.com/post/106942354851 Mako's commentary.]]

* This [[http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/12/korra-series-finale-recap-gay-asami article]] gives an insightful and beautiful description of how and why ''The Legend of Korra'' is one of the first cartoons to show the things most TV shows, animated or live-action, don't always do, and even when done, usually not very well: Racial representation without diving into stereotypes and StockAseop; Accurate depictions of realistically body positive females; {{Badass}} women who can still be vulnerable, aren't over-sexualized, and aren't over-exaggerated for either being too girly or too tomboyish; The complexity of differing political views and religion; [[PositiveDiscrimination No agenda of showing that "only girls are awesome", but both genders can be equally as awesome]]. And probably the most significant impact: The portrayal, if subtle one, of two women (Korra and Asami) of different races becoming an OfficialCouple.

* This [[http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/12/korra-series-finale-recap-gay-asami article]] gives an insightful and beautiful description of how and why ''The Legend of Korra'' is one of the first cartoons to show the things most TV shows, animated or live-action, don't always do, and even when done, usually not very well: Racial representation without diving into stereotypes and StockAseops; Accurate depictions of realistically body positive females; {{Badass}} women who can still be vulnerable, aren't over-sexualized, and aren't over-exaggerated for either being too girly or too tomboyish; The complexity of differing political views and religion; [[PositiveDiscrimination No agenda of showing that "only girls are awesome", but both genders can be equally as awesome]]. And probably the most significant impact: The portrayal, if subtle one, of two women (Korra and Asami) of different races becoming an OfficialCouple.

* This [[http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/12/korra-series-finale-recap-gay-asami article]] gives an insightful and beautiful description of how and why ''The Legend of Korra'' is one of the first cartoons to show the things most TV shows, animated or live-action, don't always do: Racial representation. Body positivity. {{Badass}} women who can still be vulnerable, aren't over-sexualized, and aren't over-exaggerated for either being too girly or too tomboyish. The complexity of politics and religion. No agenda of showing that "only girls are awesome", but both genders can be equally as awesome. And probably the most significant impact: The portrayal, if subtle one, of two women (Korra and Asami) of different races becoming an OfficialCouple.

* Disney/Mulan parody: [[http://disney-rapunzel-merida-vanellope.tumblr.com/post/107453918704/usapotterfan-norhuu-duckypooop-novur Send Me Daughters.]]

* Perhaps a minor one, but not only does Korra own page on TheOtherWiki, but ''Asami'' as well!

* Doubles as Heartwarming: How the show demonstrated with the failed couples Tenzin/Lin, Asami/Mako, Korra/Mako, and even Bolin/Eska can still be [[AmicableExes great friends.]]

* [[http://avatarparallels.tumblr.com/post/106895963823/halfgap-nick-coms-1-reason-for-why-2014 Nick.com’s]] #1 reason for why 2014 rocked.

!!Book One: Air

[[folder: Welcome to Republic City ]]

* "I'M THE AVATAR! YOU GOTTA DEAL WITH IT!" the words might as well be directed at Nick; who were skeptical about a female lead in the show. The tiny Korra then proceeds to prove it beyond a shadow of doubt; by demonstrating that she has already gained control over three elements at the tender age of '''four''' - ''without ever having trained with a master''.
* "Who do you think you are?" "Why don't you come and find out?" And then the [[CurbStompBattle resulting ass-kicking.]]
** Korra bending three elements? That's to be expected. Korra [[EffortlessAmazonianLift throwing adult men across the street and through windows?]] That's a pleasant surprise.
* Korra's awesome chase scene through the city; a combination of the action, her agility and the pumping swing music made is just stunning.
** The Metalbending police that are chasing her are completely unimpressed by the fact that she's the Avatar.
*** The very evolution of metalbending.
* A sort of Fridge Crowning Moment: Like Airbenders, Flying Bison have clearly not gone entirely extinct.
* Credit where it's due. The Protestor manages to trick Korra into [[WhatAnIdiot convincing his spectators that benders do abuse their powers to oppress people]].
--> '''Korra:''' Bending is the coolest thing in the world!\\
'''Protestor:''' Oh, yeah? I'm assuming you're a bender?\\
'''Korra:''' That's right!\\
'''Protestor:''' [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred And I bet you'd just love to knock me off of this platform with some waterbending]]!\\
'''Korra:''' [[NotHelpingYourCase I'm certainly thinking about it!]]

[[folder: A Leaf in the Wind ]]

* The Fire Ferrets' two come-from-behind wins, with Mako soloing the opposition for a knockout in the first, and Korra making her first breakthrough in airbending in the second for another knockout when they were two rounds behind.
* Korra swimming across to the arena from Air Temple Island is pretty impressive.

[[folder: The Revelation ]]

* Before she and Mako go after Bolin, Korra manages to "be the leaf" and navigate through the airbending gates.
* Amon's entrance was pretty epic.
* As evil as he is, Amon's speech was superb. He has just the right charisma and logic to sway a whole crowd to adopt his own beliefs.
* Amon dodging fire blasts and ''lightning bolts'' before revealing that he can spirit-bend.
** Keep an eye on Amon when takes hold of Lightning Bolt Zolt's arm (the arm ''actively shooting lightning'') as he twists it and puts him in a hold. If he was even slightly off when he did that it could have easily been fatal for either him or Zolt, displaying a type of physical martial arts mastery and precision that has never been seen from any character from the Avatar universe before.
*** Zolt's and Amon's little Q&A session? It's exactly the same lines Aang and Ozai deliver after the first use of Energybending.
* The Lieutenant's EstablishingCharacterMoment, taking on ''both'' Mako and Bolin and kicking their asses. Followed by one for Korra, cutting off his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech with a surprise earthbending attack.
** Earlier, the duo of FacelessGoons taking on Mako and ''Korra'' and taking them down with chi-blocking techniques similar to Ty Lee's.
* After their bout with the chi-blockers, they decide to wait for the Anti-Bending protestor guy in the park, to try and get some info from him. He shows up the next morning for his usual rants, and both Korra and Mako go straight for what they're after. When he refuses to talk to them, and starts to tear into Korra with his usual bigoted speech, she immediately lets him know she'll have none of it. By both telling him off and ''[[EffortlessAmazonianLift hoisting him over her head with one arm!]]''
* Korra takes out a GiantMook without making use of her bending. Okay, nothing special. What does she use as a weapon instead? ''[[ScarfofAsskicking Mako's scarf.]]''
* Mako ''flinging'' that Equalist over his head and high into the air like a rag doll to get him off his little brother was quite impressive. He can give Korra a run for a CharlesAtlasSuperpower.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: A Voice In The Night ]]

* When Tarrlok mentions Aang in his speech, this exchange happens:
-->'''Tenzin:''' "How dare you compare yourself to Avatar Aang!"
* Korra immediately freezing the gas she fell for in the last episode.
** The raid itself was pretty awesome as it was basically a SWAT raid -- but with ''waterbending''!
* ''Amon's'' speech is this. He has Korra in his clutches, powerless, easily able to take her bending away... ''but he doesn't''. He tells her, in no uncertain terms, [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy that doing so now would only rally bending support]]; that their showdown WILL come later, and that when it does come, '''he will destroy her'''. A spectacular display of psychological warfare, NightmareFuel, and BadassBoast.
** In a way, that scene is one for Korra as well: she openly challenges him to a one-on-one, despite being utterly terrified of him, and sticks to her challenge.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Spirit of Competition ]]

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Korra managing to take a leave of absence from Tarrlok's squad. Considering all the political and public pressure he pushed on her, that's impressive.
* Korra winning the Ferret's third match by subtly using [[DanceBattler air-style evasive dancing]] to trick her opponents into lining up in one line, then [[OneHitPolykill launching a waterbending strike that pushes them off the arena]]. Considering how much of a mess of things she made with the LoveTriangle it was a good way to apologize to her teammates.
* Bolin taking charge in the second pro-bending match since Korra and Mako are too distracted to play properly, ending in a tie-breaker which he effortlessly wins.
* Tahno tries to get Korra to hit him, which would get the Fire Ferrets kicked out of the tournament. Instead, she whistles for Naga, who wipes the smirk off his face.
** Just before, Bolin warns her "don't make eye-contact!" whereupon she ''very deliberately'' makes eye contact.
* What about the beginning of the episode when the Fire Ferrets [[CurbstompBattle curbstomp]] their competitors with utmost ease?
* The fact that the Wolfbats beat their opponents in a matter of minutes and proved why they've been the champions three years running. Better yet, one of their fallen opponents had a ''hole in his helmet''.
** Subverted when we learn just how they have such a winning streak in the next episode.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: And The Winner Is ]]

* [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Lin Beifong shows why she's the chief of the Metalbending Police: by kicking ass against the Equalist attack.]] Even when surprise-attacked, she shows how competent she is.
** And before that, stopping the council from shutting down the match. Even if it didn't end well, her reasoning was sound, and seeing that metal cable come out of nowhere to break the gavel even as Tarrlok was banging it was just awesome.
* Korra saving her team from a round 1 loss by grabbing the edge of the ring, then beating Tahno in a tiebreaker in just a couple seconds.
** Bonus points for having diverted his attention from her real attack, and then uppercutting him in the face with waterbending. She ''outsmarted'' Tahno instead of using brute force! Would Korra have done that in the beginning?
* She not only grabbed the edge of the ring but managed to hang onto it by her fingertips ''while holding Mako with one hand''. And rather than save just herself, she decided to let Mako be the one to show up Tahno so she actually threw him back up and let herself fall.
** The level of nuance in the CurbStompBattle just makes it poetry in motion. In-story InstantReplay shows that Korra's water blast hit Tahno just as he leaned forward to unleash his counter that, lacking strength due to being interrupted too early, Korra turned aside without even lifting a finger. In other words, Korra had not only fooled him to move in the way of her uppercut, she timed it so that the force would hit him in the chin just the moment he started gathering forward momentum but before he could translate it into an attack. A pro wins by being the strongest, the smartest and the fastest. A master wins by seeing every move their opponent is going to make and breaking them apart before they happen.
* Korra and Lin Beifong don't see eye to eye, which made their team up against Amon and the Equalists all the more awesome. Even more awesome how they were almost in-tune and aiding each other.
** Some percentage of that awesome is thanks to Tenzin, who spent the pro-bending match getting Lin to lighten up toward Korra.
* As soon as Lin is shocked, Tenzin immediately hits her attacker with an air blast, knocking them offscreen
* Pabu rescuing Korra, Mako, and Bolin when they're tied up during the Equalist raid on the Pro-Bending arena. BadassAdorable? I think so.
** Hell, Bolin ''speaking ferret'' belongs here too.
* Korra's fearless attempt to give chase to Amon is made extremely awesome when you consider the utter terror she has for him and the near [[MindRape mental breakdown]] he caused her two episodes beforehand.
* Shiro Shinobi's ''refusal'' to stop reporting, which doubles as a CrowningMomentOfFunny since he's [[BringMeMyBrownPants wetting himself.]] [[BadassBystander Now that is being dedicated to your job.]]
** Also keep in mind he was on live radio to ''the whole city.'' They likely heard him being attacked, after hearing his terror and him summing up the devastation. Since Shiro is a non-bender, then that could have been a calculated move, to show and warn the public that the Equalists are ruthless enough to ''attack non-benders''.
*** In addition, he's reporting exactly what is going on in the ''exact same tone'' as when he covers a match. He's not dressing it up, he's not a bundle of nerves, he's not speaking gibberish. His Triple Triad reporter instincts take over despite how terrified he is. He's a reporter and he ''will'' report the news.
** Before that, calling out the bribed referees and telling the whole city about the Wolfbat's cheating. This guy has never heard the expression ''"[[AFewGoodMen You can't handle the truth!]]"''
** His background (detailed in the Welcome to Republic City exploration game on nick.com) adds a lot as well. He used to report on ''triad crimes''--you know, the same triads that regularly threaten non-benders for money. The guy's got guts.
*** This only gets better. Those triad crimes? ''Bending triads''. Put this in perspective- he used to report on ''bending crimes'', yet he was still willing to get electrocuted to make sure the people knew that the Equalists were ruthless enough to attack non-benders with bending friends. Watch it cross some civilians' minds in FridgeBrilliance type fashion in the future that this former reporter of ''bending crimes'' [[{{Determinator}} put himself at risk to be both whistleblower and example that the Equalists were bad news]]. This man probably just helped save the world and doesn't even know it yet.
* You have to give the Equalists their due here. Their plan was just spectacular. Lets run down the list:
** They manage to smuggle in taser gloves and stealthily zap every metalbender cop (and Tenzin) in the room. Tenzin was the only one to get a shot off.
** They avert the IdiotBall and actually check the water for the Fire Ferrets, and zap them all unconscious.
** Amon delivering a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the entire audience about applauding for cheaters before [[DePower de-powering]] the Wolfbats in front of everyone.
** Amon reacting as casually as if he were picking up the morning paper to fireballs flying all around him. Fireballs that knock the rest of his mooks completely off their feet.
** Also, though his forces seem to have been pushed back, it was actually all part of his plan, and Korra and Lin realize that they fell for it since Amon was actively trying to goad a bender versus non-bender war. [[MagnificentBastard Either way, he wins.]]
** He pulled off an epic XanatosGambit even before that--the moment he specified the championship as a target, ''he won.'' If the council didn't give in, as he himself anticipated, then his attack goes through and he makes a massive statement and kickstarts his war. If they actually ''had'' shut down the arena...then it shows that even the council is intimidated by Amon, and not willing to but heads with him. In the long scheme, there was almost no way for him to lose.
*** He also cements his rep as a DangerouslyGenreSavvy CombatPragmatist: The Metalbenders' armour is impervious to chi-blocking attacks; so what's his plan? Simple: ''electrocute their metal armour''.
** Lastly, in the long shot at the end we see several boats burning in the waters around the city, the same police boats which were shown patrolling the area earlier. So in the time it took for Amon's public show, his troops manage to take out the entire patrol fleet.
* Bolin manages to shoot a clay disk so precisely it ''bounces off the side rope and hits the rival''. This guy's more talented than we thought.
* Retroactive one for Pema. Remember how she said in episode 5 that there was some other woman Tenzin was interested in before her heartfelt confession managed to finally get Tenzin's attention? Come episode 6, and we find out that Lin Beifong used to have a romantic relationship with Tenzin, and she was the other woman Pema was talking about. So non-bending Pema actually risked the ire of a jealous and very skilled bender who, according to Tenzin, tried to get her arrested.
* From a directorial standpoint, we have this shot. Picture it: a pro-bending champion is crowned. The crowd goes wild-- everyone is either standing and cheering or flailing and cursing the refs. And then the sound drops out, and everything slows down. The camera focuses on an audience member with a decidedly grim expression slowly pulling a mask over their nose and mouth. Then it goes across the arena, where another audience member does the same thing. It does this again. And again. And again. One of the masked men reaches into his popcorn and pulls out a weapon. The audience around them is completely oblivious. As are the heavily armed and armored police officers providing security. Everyone is oblivious until the Equalists begin using those weapons to neutralize the security detail and take out anyone who resists. That's right ladies and gentlemen; you've just witnessed the beginnings of a ''terrorist attack,'' on ''{{Nickelodeon}}''. As a reviewer from ''The AV Club'' put it, "that scene was so nice, I watched it twice."


[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Aftermath ]]

* Asami taking a stand for what's right, even though it means turning against her father and knocking him out with his own lightning glove.
-->'''Asami:''' I love you, Dad.
** She also takes out [[TheDragon the Lieutenant]] with her self-defense skills and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard his electrified kali sticks]]. Mind you, he defeated both Bolin and Mako by himself, and held his own against Korra (though she eventually beat him). He only stood up to Asami for a ''few seconds''.
*** This has a lot to do with fighting styles, Bolin and Mako are long range fighters, while Asami is much better in close combat (this is also what gives the Chi-Blockers such an advantage over benders in the city).
* Mako and Bolin's perfectly timed double-teaming of one of Lin's men, to get down to the battle where the rest of the heroes would have been completely screwed without them.
* Lin Beifong using her mother Toph's technique of 'seeing' with her feet using earthbending to find the secret tunnel that leads up to the hidden Equalist factory under Hiroshi Sato's mansion.
** Lin retracting the bottom of her boot to bare her foot may count as awesome.
** Can we just say [[{{Badass}} Lin Beifong]], period? She crackles with awesome whenever she's on screen.
* Tenzin fighting for the first time in the series, and outlasting the metalbenders, Lin and Korra herself. He actually manages to severely rattle Sato's Mecha around with nothing more than air blasts.
** TwoWords: ''Air Cycle''. [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4c7eaioT11qlpdjw.gif Seriously, look at this badass airbending master right here!]]
*** FridgeBrilliance: Tenzin is too tall and large for the air scooter to be practical for him, so he had to make something new.
*** Further FridgeBrilliance: That is probably the technique he invented to get named a master Airbender in the first place, the same way Aang inventing the air scooter got him made a master Airbender. I guess it runs in the family.
* So we find out these new mechs are made of platinum, i.e. no earthly impurities to metalbend, so how does Beifong deal with it? The old-fashioned way: ''whipping out two massive arm blades, to hack and slash at the thing's faceplate'', where the controller sits.
** More notable for the fact she's the ''only'' one that succeeds in taking out one of the mecha.
* The cabbage merchant from the first series grew an absolutely huge corporation out of his single, fragile cart. Talk about shaking his ButtMonkey role. They even built a statue of him.
* The bad guys deserve a crowning moment in this one as well, given that their ''prototype'' mechs managed to take several police officers, 2 master benders, and the ''Avatar'' apart like cheap toys while sustaining only minimal losses.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: When Extremes Meet ]]

* The new Team Avatar is about to enter the city on patrol, but all four cannot fit on Naga, so what do they use as the solution? They get the ''[[CoolCar Korramobile]]''.
* Team Avatar's first patrol has them chasing a group of Equalists breaking out some convicted felons. They take them out and detain them ''before the police even arrive.'' [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Tarrlok]] is not pleased.
** Mako gets one for using his lightning bending to great effect, taking down a motorcycle-riding chi-blocker without a sweat.
** And Bolin pulling up tiles and shooting them at the Equalists like bullets.
** It wasn't a ''complete'' curbstomping, [[BadassBiker the equalists]] did manage to jump from their wrecking motorcycles and land on the hood of the car, and follow it up by putting Bolin out of commission. Of course, this just leads to Asami's CMOA when she very casually zaps them both unconscious.
* [[JerkAss Tarrlok]] calls Korra a "half-baked Avatar in training" midway in the episode. When she confronts him later for arresting Bolin, Mako, and Asami, she refuses to play his political games. He attacks and she shows him ''[[CurbStompBattle exactly]]'' why she's the Avatar; complete with a [[GroundShatteringLanding show of Earthbending force]]. At least until we find out that ''[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique he's a blood-bender]].''
** [[BadassBureaucrat Tarrlok]] [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking deserves some credit]]: He gave ''Korra'' the fight of her life with his [[MakingASplash master waterbending]], including using the waterfall in his office to hold up a persistent circular watershield around himself while simultaneously launching a literal [[FlechetteStorm hail of]] [[AnIcePerson sharp icicles]], which besides being arguably the most [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome awesome-looking move in the entire Avatar franchise]], connected several times and drew blood. Oh, and he can also ''[[BeyondTheImpossible bloodbend without the full moon]].'' The man showed his true colors in less than ten minutes, and basically brought himself up to Amon's level in villainy.
*** The ice spikes not only HIT Korra, but they draw BLOOD. Neither of those things were allowed to happen in the first series.
* Korra, after being captured by Tarrlok, was so mad ''she breathed fire''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Out of the Past ]]

* Amon being able to ''[[VillainousValour resist Tarrlok's bloodbending]]'' and take his bending away. Mind you that along with his father, Yakone, Tarrlok was able to bloodbend multiple people at once, yet Amon while not immune, was able to power through it and take Tarrlok down!
** Not just that, but Amon's ''entrance''. Tarrlok is walking up the stairs, his eyes widen, and we see Amon, the Lieutenant, and a team of Chi-Blockers [[AssKickingPose standing there]], and we know that Tarrlok is ''screwed''.
** Also, from a storytelling standpoint, this is the first direct - as opposed to the previous indirect ones - juxtaposition of him with Aang, given the latter's scene in the flashback.
** That LINE. No big speech. No anger at being framed. No explaining himself, or asking for explanation. Just FOUR WORDS. "I am the solution."
*** And said line was the response to an utterly terrified Tarrlok questioning [[WhatTheHellAreYou WHAT he is]] and realizing how screwed he is.
** Small one for The Lieutenant, although he goes down from Tarrlok's bloodbending with the others, he is shown still struggling against it on his hands and knees and trying to pick himself up while the others fell like flies. It took Tarrlok unleashing his full power on Amon to make him go down.
* In Korra's flashback, we see the full story behind Aang's battle with Yakone. The battle itself is brief before Yakone bloodbends him, with the intent to '''kill'''. [[NightmareFuel Aang goes through quite the hideous ordeal]], ''but then he breaks out of it with the Avatar state'', traps Yakone, and takes away his bending for good.
** The fact Aang was able to take away Yakone's bending with no resistance or difficulty whatsoever is worth mentioning.
*** Yakone deserves some credit here. Bloodbends while handcuffed with his ''fingers'', and shuts Team Avatar down in seconds.
** Not only that, but as Aang battles Yakone, some music from the original series is being played. Awesome indeed.
* Korra using her wrist band to avoid the [[TheDragon Lieutenant's]] electricity when he tries to electrocute her through the metal box she's in, then fighting her way out and escaping. More noteworthy because Korra didn't do it by sheer brute force but with something ''smart!''
** To make it even more awesome, she held off Amon long enough for her to escape.
** Amon tells them not to underestimate Korra, and it's pretty cool seeing his disappointment in them.
** More impressive?They ''did exactly what Amon told them to do!'' Korra didn't just outsmart TheDragon, she outsmarted freaking ''[[MagnificentBastard Amon]].''
* Naga gets a CMOA as well by tracking down Korra by herself.
** While this is heartwarming and everything, Naga is still a dog. A giant bear dog, but a dog nonetheless. It's not unheard of for dogs to either get depressed when their masters leave or go looking - even if their master is dead. This is TruthInTelevision if anything, but it doesn't make it any less satisfying.
* Once again, Lin Badass Beifong strikes. She was practically a [[OneManArmy one-woman-army]], and everybody else was just an accessory. She busted the Krew out of jail, she freed her police-officers, she found the secret tunnel, she navigated the wagon away from quite a number of Equalists who had just been waiting for them by bending the rail and making a hole in the ceiling, and she did all of this while still injured.
** The awesome starts near the beginning of the episode, with her LockAndLoadMontage prior to going Equalist-hunting. She ''metalbends her armour onto her body''.
* Tarrlok's council page even gets one. When Tenzin and the rest of the cast accuse Tarrlok of kidnapping Korra, the page gathers the courage, despite clearly being terrified, to tell them that he saw Tarrlok kidnap Korra and revealed to them that Tarrlok was a bloodbender. For someone who served right under Tarrlok and feared him, that was pretty impressive.
** That's just scratching on the surface. The page is a small, weak, skinny, meek man--and he's a nonbender. He works for a master waterbender who is capable of the most advanced and dangerous waterbending technique known to man. Of all of the people in that room, he was the most vulnerable, and the most likely to get hurt if attacked. Even though he was visibly TERRIFIED, he told everyone the truth about Tarrlok--sacrificing his own safety to do so.
* Bolin gets one while he and the rest of the group (sans Korra) are fleeing from the Equalists, by ripping the walls of the tunnel out, preventing pursuit. Made cooler by the fact he wordlessly gets Mako to let him handle the situation, and how much less action Bolin gets out of the Pro-Bending ring. And the reaction (smiling, probably impressed) of the former metal-benders in the wagon is icing of the cake.
* When Korra comes out of the house, she sees Amon standing there looking right back at her. She immediately throws a bunch of icicles at him and it doesn't slow him down in the slightest. He immediately starts after as she runs away absolutely terrified.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Turning the Tides ]]

* Naga, while carrying four people, jumps in the air and smacks the Lieutenant aside like it's nothing.
** Naga swimming across the bay ''underwater'' with four passengers may also count.
* Tenzin being ambushed by Equalists, and ''[[CurbStompBattle whooping them.]]'' He also saved Tarrlok's page.
** Even better, this ties in with CrowningMomentOfFunny and FreezeFrameBonus if you are fast enough. Tenzin has his back turned to the Equalists, and his only warning that they are about to attack is his ''beard'' shivering with the electricity. He promptly dodges '''three''' electrified disks and mops the floor with them. [[ActorAllusion Beard senses tingling!]]
* Tenzin holding off the Mecha Tanks until Team Avatar arrives.
** After they do, he airbends one so hard it ''hits the roof of Police HQ''.
* Also Team Avatar's attack on the Mecha Tanks.
** Asami and Bolin combining CarFu and earth-bending to destroy two mecha tanks.
** Bolin toppling another one with a boulder right into the helmet.
** Mako withstanding the lightning and redirecting right back at the Mech.
** Korra using water to clog up a mecha's engine while Bolin finishes it off.
** Asami fighting off half a dozen Equalist foot soldiers while rescuing Tenzin.
* Lin fighting off the Equalists on Air Temple Island. It looks like she's getting beaten, then [[BigDamnHeroes Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo]] [[CurbstompBattle jump in]].
-->'''Jinora:''' Stay away from my dad's ex-girlfriend!
** And then Jinora manages to blow away ''the Lieutenant''. LittleMissBadass indeed.
** Then Lin ''metalbending an airship''. [[CallBack Like mother like daughter]].
*** Even when being debended by Amon, Lin went out all but spitting in Amon's face, [[DefiantToTheEnd and never lost her grace and dignity.]] This increased her LadyOfWar status ''greatly''.
*** "[[HeroicSacrifice That lady is my hero.]]" Meelo, lad, you spoke for everyone.
*** Hell, everything that Lin does in this episode just leads up to what basically amounts to Lin's [[DyingMomentOfAwesome De-Powering Moment of Awesome.]]
* Asami sacrificing the Korramobile and ''smashing it into two Mecha-Tanks''.
** And speaking of Asami, [[http://shrineheart.tumblr.com/post/25320029142/avataraang-fuck-mako-i-literally-cheered she gets a non-fighting one.]] While Mako is NOT an evil JerkAss, he ''[[HumansAreFlawed did]]'' [[HumansAreFlawed screw up badly]] by not telling Asami about the kiss incident. And after Asami learns about it from Bolin... does she throw a tantrum at Korra and bash her? Nope. She waits until Korra is back to the group, then goes to Mako [[WhatTheHellHero and directly calls him out about it]]. ''And'' she leaves clear that she ''likes'' Korra and doesn't loathe her out of [[GreenEyedMonster romantic envy]]. Considering how such situations [[CatFight are usually handled]] in media, it's a refreshing change to see Asami at least ''attempt'' to be mature about it.
* [[BadassAdorable Tenzin's children]] deserves a lot more credit: Jinora blasts the Lieutenant with her airbending and sends him ''flying over the temple roof'', Ikki brings back Aang's air scooter and whoops ass with it before anyone can even react, and Meelo weaponizes ''fartbending'', knocking a couple Chi-Blockers, before blasting away ''half a dozen'' chi-blockers with air blast and an air bomb-esque move with a DeathGlare no less. They're 10, 7 and 5 respectively. Even Lin was speechless with shock and pride, that's saying ''something''.
** In spite of his general [[TheChewToy punching bag]] status in recent episodes, the Lieutenant still managed to get one brief, shining moment in before the kids arrived to wreck his shit-- he not only stood his ground while his men dropped like flies around him, but effortlessly blocked Lin's cable attack before almost casually shocking her and bringing Republic City's consummate badass ''to her knees''. If Jinora hadn't shown up when she did, Lin would probably have been captured and de-bended far faster than she actually was. A shame that mere seconds later, he ended up jobbing again for the rest of the episode.
* Halfway through the episode, Tenzin sends a message to a mysterious general right before the telegraph is cut. Then at the end, we discover what that was about: A fleet of ships stands ready to take back Republic City, led by a guy with Zuko/Ozai's face minus the scar. Then he opens his mouth, and Dante Basco's voice comes out. Finally, we learn his name: ''General Iroh''. Amon is ''so screwed''.
** However, judging by the finale trailers, the fleet is the one getting screwed by Amon and his ''bomb dropping fighter planes''.
** Although, if this is Zuko's grandson, you can bet he [[DoNotGoGentle won't go out without one hell of a fight.]] If Lin and Tenzin are anything to go by, being an epic fighter is genetic in the Avatarverse.
* The White Lotus guards actually pulling their weight and holding off the Equalists, just so Korra and everyone else could escape. And they knew what was in store for them, but fought anyway.
* For a villainous example, the Equalists again deserve some credit for their blitzkrieg. It takes a lot of coordination to pull of such simultaneous attacks, and they did it by ''surprise'' even with all of the clues the heroes have managed to get beforehand. This, for the first time, makes it very clear that the Equalists aren't just really well-coordinated and well-equipped terrorists, they're an entire aggressively extremist ''military.''
** And, [[MagnificentBastard as you would expect]], Amon's organization of that military was nothing short of brilliant. Starting with well-timed strikes to take out the city's leading politicians creating confusion followed by an assault on the police headquarters using gas attacks to incapacitate most and flush others out to abduct with Sato's mini mechs, thus leaving the city completely defenseless and at his mercy.
* The finale of the episode felt not only pure awesome but also a subtle CallBack to the [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender original series]]. We all remember how every time we saw those black steel Fire Nation warships, shit was about to hit the fan. They were often haunting and a sign of violent conquest. Now we have a panned out view of the United Nation's Fleet led by General Iroh (Zuko's grandson) with a brighter and more colourful exterior, and their mission not to conquer Republic City but to take it back from the Equalists.
* Honestly, you'd have a harder time listing the moments where someone wasn't awesome. I think Tenzin's Sky Bison didn't... no... um... Amon's Lieutenant... Um... well, he had some cool entrances... and uh... wow... this is tough... guess we have to give credit to the writers for making this episode. Not a moment was spared making everything awesome.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Skeletons in the Closet]]

* Korra jumping in to help the fleet. Among other things, she crashes a plane with a pillar of ice and redirects a torpedo into another.
* The Fleet vs the bombers was incredible. Mines disorganized the ships, but the earth/water benders take care of them, then the planes come. We get to see them drop bombs and torpedos, and tear the fleet apart. Ships go down left and right, in huge explosions. It's not quite the CurbStompBattle that the trailers led to believe. The general and several Firebenders use a cannon to take down a plane, and an earth-bender takes one down with a disk similar to the one at the probending-arena. Iroh himself gets to the crows nest, and starts blasting down planes.
** And General Iroh blowing up a missile. ''That was probably 5 feet from his face''. [[MadeOfIron He survives]]. The fact that it was a strong callback to something his [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender grandfather]] did just makes it better.
** It was awesome for both sides, really. Both the Equalist Air Force and the United Forces Fleet get good shots on the other, and the animation of the entire thing was ''breathtaking.''
* The design of the fleet. Water-benders on the side to make the ships move along with the engines (on side platforms similar to those used in the original series' blimps) as well as granting access to the water for weaponization, cannons that run on fire-bending, and several other projectiles manned by earth-benders. It even has all three emblems on the ships, showing how the three nations have made peace.
* An antagonist example. After he and his little brother got verbally abused and forced to bloodbend animals and each other by their father, Noatak finally has enough of it and bloodbends Yakone into submission while giving an epic ReasonYouSuckSpeech to him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Endgame ]]

* General Iroh hijacks a plane. ''In midair.'' Propelling himself just like Azula and Ozai did in The Last Airbender, but with greater maneuverability than even Ozai showed.
** Then, while piloting that plane, he shoots lightning between the propellers.
** The last plane in the fleet is right above him, about to drop a bomb on his plane. Iroh firebends straight up. Boom!
** Crashing the last plane into the Amon-style mask placed on the Aang statue, knocking it off, was an awesome little exclamation point on the whole scene.
** This little blurb from [[http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Iroh_(United_Forces_general) his page]] on the Avatar Wiki: "Having destroyed many aircraft, Iroh would be considered a flying ace, that is, a pilot that shoots down five or more enemy aircraft. He also earned it in a day without any prior experience or training, an incredible feat for a real world pilot. That being said, he would be the first flying ace in the Avatar world."
* Credit where credit is due, the random Equalist mook who managed to hit Iroh's plane with an ''unguided bomb'' deserves a mention. It's hard enough hitting a non-moving ground target in RealLife with such bombs, even with mechanical bombsights, and the guy aims by eye at another plane and scores a hit.
* Bolin saving Asami from her father, while calling him out for his treatment of his own daughter.
--> '''Bolin''': Mister Sato, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis YOU! ARE A HORRIBLE! FATHER!]]
* Asami's biggest CMOA being her final showdown with her father.
-->'''Asami''': You really are a horrible father.
** Not to mention her earlier CallingTheOldManOut, telling him flat out that his wife would hate him for what he's become. You go, Asami.
* Korra Airbending Amon to rescue Mako. This is followed by her beating the tar out of Amon and blasting him out of a window into the ocean, forcing him to reveal who he really is to all his followers.
** Best part about this? Korra forces herself out of Amon's bloodbending grip with sheer willpower to deliver the final blow, while Aang had to go into the Avatar State to do the same when facing Yakone. "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis No! You! DON'T!]]" indeed.
** It's also the first and only time in the series where we see Amon completely helpless and without any sort of backup plan. He knows right in that moment that he's in trouble.
--->'''Amon:''' [[ThisCannotBe Impossible!]]
* Korra reconnecting with her spiritual side, and learning Energy Bending from Aang.
** Moreover, Korra's realization of the Avatar State, and properly unleashing all four elements for the first time.
** The music adds a lot too, as the first time we've heard the main Avatar theme in its full glory in this series.
*** Even the scenery helps, the sun begins to shine through the clouds when Aang tells Korra that she's finally connected to her spiritual self, and continues to do so until all the past incarnations of the Avatar appear.
** And let's not forget a large part of the scene's power is how it subverts the ''hell'' out of the extremely BittersweetEnding verging on DownerEnding that it looked for all the world like the season was going to have until that point.
* Lin recovering her earthbending from Korra, and demonstrating it.
** Note that when Lin gets her bending back, she doesn't cautiously move a few pebbles before trying something bigger when she tests it out. She immediately, and without hesitation, tries to levitate TWELVE massive boulders at once.
* Mako hitting Amon point-blank with lightning, while being bloodbent. Amon later admitted that Mako was the first person EVER to get the best of him.
* The Lieutenant standing up to Amon after he is revealed to be a waterbender and a bloodbender. Granted, he gets his ass handed to him (not like that's never happened before), but it's the thought that counts.
* Once again, [[ActionPet Naga]]. She took out not one, but ''three'' mecha tanks by ''herself''. {{Badass}} all the way.
* Doubles as a TearJerker, but Tarrlok taking responsibility for his crimes, and sacrificing himself to take out Amon for good by blowing up the boat they were on with one of Amon's electric gauntlets. "Just like the good old days" indeed.
* Korra and co. think they've discovered information about Amon that could discredit him in front of his followers, and go to one of his rallies to publicly expose him. What happens when Korra tells everyone that he lied about being burned by a firebender and that he's actually a bloodbender? A VillainousBreakdown and HumiliationConga like [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Azula and Ozai?]] No! He calmly laughs off Korra's accusations, and then removes his mask to "prove" that he's been telling the truth, effortlessly causing Korra's attempt to discredit him to backfire, and leaving him in an even stronger position with his followers. The burn scar is fake, but looks convincing, and the fact that he had it suggests that he had always considered the possibility that he might be unmasked for some reason, and prepared accordingly. As if Amon hadn't already proven his credentials as a DangerouslyGenreSavvy MagnificentBastard.
** Simply the moment where Korra accuses him is awesome for Amon; the camera focuses closely on his eyes, and instead of the eye-widening OhCrap look we viewers might expect, his eyes ''narrow'', showing that he's calculating how to adjust his plan, but is neither particularly surprised nor worried. This gives the viewers an OhCrap on Korra's behalf, because we can guess from Amon's reaction that things are not going to go the way Korra hopes.
* ''Tenzin'' deserves major points here...after being freed at the rally, what'd he do? ''Immediately hurls a shot of air that '''forces Amon back'''.'' His other lackeys got blown away and Amon himself was forced into a defensive stance for a foot or two before the tail end of the gust passed over giving him time to roll out of the way of Mako's firebending. Tenzin follows up with a blast that spreads out along a circular front which Amon cannot dodge no matter what direction he jumps in and it sends him flying right out of the stage. The world's only living Airbending Master and youngest son of Avatar Aang everyone, the ''first one in-series to curb stomp '''[[ImplacableMan Amon]]''' with '''[[MartialPacifist air bending]]'''.''
** FridgeBrilliance: Amon's never fought an Airbender before; he isn't familiar enough with it to know how to manipulate his opponent's moves or to even know what to expect.
* When Korra unlocks her airbending for the first time, she briefly overpowers Amon, who then manages to get back his bloodbending grip. However, Korra resists this, and blasts him out the window. The only ways to resist bloodbending is either with the Avatar State, or by being a bloodbender yourself... ''Korra had neither'', ''and she '''still''' overpowered bloodbending on her own.''
* Amon is just about to remove Tenzin or one of his children's bending. Mako, who second earlier was arguing for them to make a break for it, blasts him with a lightning bolt that sends Amon ducking for cover. Followed by he and Korra running along the wall and [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping Amon's followers]] with fire balls.
--> '''Korra''': No. You. Don't!
* Amon's de-bending of Korra, after bloodbending her from her hiding place, thus making her greatest fear a reality. While it allows her to unlock airbending and finally defeat Amon, it's implied that his taking away of the other three elements had her contemplating suicide at the end. KnightOfCerebus indeed.
-->'''Amon:''' I told you I would destroy you.
[[/folder]]

!!Book Two: Spirits

[[folder: Rebel Spirit ]]

* Mako catching the triad goons. He uses firebending to melt the ice they used to trip him up, ramp jumped off someone's earthbending, firebent in mid air to force the goon's truck to crash, and sticks the landing. Then he caps it with a flawless delivered BondOneLiner and the revelation that he's now a cop. Mako must have been grinding between seasons because he's reached a new level of badass.
* The battle with the Dark Spirit, which shrugged off everything everyone did to try and stop it, until Unalaq stepped in and calmed it down.
** Unalaq's calming of the spirit is awesome as well. As stated above, the Dark Spirit shrugged off everything that the rest of the team and Korra's family threw at it, even resisting fireblasts from Korra while in the Avatar State, and yet Unalaq alone was able to calm it simply through waterbending. The music playing while he exorcised the creature's anger also deserves a special mention for being hauntingly beautiful.
* Tonraq ''immediately'' going PapaWolf on the spirit when it has Korra cornered, and demonstrating that Korra's kickass bending abilities [[BadassFamily aren't just due to her being the Avatar.]] It's not very effective, but damn if he's going to sit by and let some EldritchAbomination go after his little girl.
* Speaking of the Dark Spirit, it is the '''first''' being in the entire series thus far to overwhelm the Avatar State, which says a lot considering that a Fire Comet powered Ozai couldn't manage to touch an Avatar once they reach that state.
** Azula technically is the first, but she did a sneak attack. The Dark Spirit is the first being to overwhelm the Avatar State '''in direct and open combat.'''
** There are mitigating factors though, namely Korra's Avatar State at this point seems more controlled but less powerful than Aang's (judging by the relative lack of destruction her attacks caused), and she does not create the elemental shield that protected Aang from everything Ozai tried to do. It may simply have been due to Korra's inexperience fighting spirits, as by the end of the season her Avatar State is able to match Vaatu (who should be far stronger than the dark spirits who serve him).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Southern Lights ]]

* Korra activating the spirit portal. This sequence really has to be seen to be believed. Korra activating the spirit portal unleashes said Southern Lights in a brilliant display of color and animation, complete with triumphant music. At the same time, the statue of what is implied to be the first Avatar lights up as Jinora looks with wide-eyed awe.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Civil War Part 1 ]]

* Korra shuts down a group of rebels with nothing but agile grace and well-placed air and water-bending ''all without invoking the Avatar State''. With the way she used her normal fighting, one could swear she picked up a lot of techniques off the Equalists. She is officially a LightningBruiser. The animators deserve serious props for the bit where she fights a guy with his own belt.
** More importantly, she does so with little to no bending or brute force. Korra's still a hothead, as seen throughout these first few episodes, but the fact that she fought back with some restraint shows at least some CharacterDevelopment since her fight with Tarrlok in "When Extremes Meet."
** Possibly the most directly ''awesome'' thing about this fight, however, is that she doesn't even seem to be particularly challenged by the battle. She's never more than momentarily inconvenienced by her enemies' attacks, and defeats them so handily that you could swear [[CurbStompBattle she's barely even trying]]. With Amon and the Equalists gone, there doesn't seem to be all that many human enemies who are a match for her.
* On a practical level , we can count Korra's persistence in at least ''attempting'' diplomacy in the face of what could easily turn into a civil war. She sounds like an entirely different person when speaking calmly to Unalaq and trying to make sense of things. Of course, trying a different approach may lead to trouble (Unalaq is quickly proving himself to be perhaps less [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned]] than first appeared), but it's definitely Character Development for Korra.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Civil War Part 2 ]]

* Naga continues to be awesome by keeping pace with a car (when the driver is flooring it) and then swiping the door clean off in one blow.
** When threatening the judge, she even starts roaring like a ''lion''!
* Korra CallingTheOldManOut after she learns the truth about Unalaq, [[CurbstompBattle pwning him in three moves]] in a combination of Fire, Water, and Airbending. Then she displaces the Northern Water Tribe fleet while riding on Varrick's airplane and with Asami's and Mako's help, saves her father and the rebels.
** What makes it ''really'' impressive is that Korra, despite having her parents threatened and knows what Unalaq did, shows restraint and doesn't use the Avatar State to brutalize her Uncle. In fact, the only time she uses it in this episode is to make an escape. TranquilFury indeed.
* Varrick shows how CrazyAwesome he ''truly'' is. He hides in a Platypus Bear mount to evade Unalaq's cops, and helps Korra, Asami, Mako, and Bolin rescue Korra's father. Oh, his giant ship also doubles as a ''speedboat'' and he carries a plane in it for 'just because' reasons!
* What does the team do when they realize the boat doesn't have enough space to allow a plane to take off? Firebender-Assisted Take-off.
** Even more awesome is Asami flying the plane in the first place. She's an AcePilot, and it was REALLY nice to see her ActionGirl credentials when she took down the Northern Water Tribe guards once again.
** She even took out a guard by pulling him through a floor grate and electrocuting him, bringing back her [[StaticStunGun stun gun]] PowerFist.
* Korra interrogating the judge [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique Batman-style,]] using Naga to get answers.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Peacekeepers ]]

* Mako breaking up with Korra. She was absolutely ''refusing'' to see his side of the issue, and he ultimately did what was best for both of them, even though it clearly hurt them both.
** Korra gets props for this too, actually. Despite what Lin assumes, Korra didn't flip Mako's desk because he broke up with her, but because she considers his actions a betrayal to her and ''her family''. When he breaks up with her, she immediately stops fighting and leaves. Considering how badly Korra reacts to being hurt, and how wild her temper is, it could have gone a lot worse.
* Meelo taming ''every'' lemur at the Southern Air Temple, turning them into his personal Blue Angels.
** Note that he did this at the age of ''five'' and had no help.
* Mako being a cop. Not only does he use his Firebending skills to lessen the impact of the blast on the Southern Water Tribe cultural center, he starts his investigation of the case immediately. He soon identifies (with Bolin's help, of course) the perpetrator of the bombing as a member of the Agni Kais. Between this and President Raiko's glowing comments about Mako putting away ''dozens'' of bending Triad members, it's pretty clear that Mako is pretty damn effective at his job.
* Last but not least, Korra's fight against Eska and Desna, and pretty soon after, a Dark Spirit.
** Not to mention Korra comes close to pacifying said Dark Spirit.
** Said Dark Spirit was also ''[[EldritchAbomination ABSOLUTELY GINORMOUS.]]'' It dwarfs every other spirit seen in either series (barring the [[GaiasVengeance super-enraged La]]), including Hei Bei and Wan Shi Tong in their OneWingedAngel forms.
* Varrick strikes up two reasonable, if morally grey solutions to assisting the Southern Water Tribe in seconds and then ends his "idea storm" with an impressive flip and sticking the landing.
** That and a blind arrow shot on target is always impressive.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Sting ]]

* Asami expands her BadassDriver credentials to boats with the chase back to Republic City.
* Back in episode 1, Viper's showing wasn't the best, since he was up against the avatar on dry land. Here out on the open ocean augmented by a nighttime waterbending boost, he's incredibly effective, managing to corner Asami, and overpowering Mako. The fact he can waterbend gives off the implications he managed to escape from the Equalists during their takeover last season too.
* Varrick's reveal as a MagnificentBastard is one for both the writers' and the character. He is revealed to have paid off the Triple Threat Triads in order to steal Future Industries equipment, then make a deal with Asami to become an even more powerful business man. He pulls this off complete with [[http://i.imgur.com/6CPqWwW.jpg one of the best evil grins]] possible. Few expected that a CloudCuckoolander executive would pull off something like that, allowing the writers to hit us with one of the first legitimate curveballs of the season.
** This ''despite'' epic amounts of foreshadowing.
** Plus it retroactively improves the reveal of Unalaq as a villain, which many saw as TheUntwist. While we were all focused on how he was clearly evil, Varrick was slipped right by us.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Beginnings]]
* Wan using [[ChekhovsGun the things he ran into the previous night]] to outwit the hunters.
* Wan surviving in the Spirit Wilds and befriending every spirit there. That is both badass and heartwarming.
* Wan learning from the dragons, becoming the first ''firebender'' instead of just a guy who can throw fire.
** A little bit of FridgeBrilliance. The oldest institutionalization and source of all Chinese kungfu is believed to be Shaolin kungfu. The first element that Wan gains and masters is firebending. What martial art is firebending based on? ''Northern Shaolin style kungfu''.
* Wan using the Avatar State to seal Vaatu using all four elements in the spirit realm. It's easily one of the most impressive displays of bending in the entire franchise. The awesomeness of the scene is sealed when the original ''Avatar'' theme plays in the background.
-->'''Raava:''' We are bonded forever!
** What makes it even more awesome is that Wan doesn't have the bonus of being at the end of a chain, where it is known Avatars get even stronger with more past lives lived. Wan, who shouldn't be that powerful, was on the ''winning'' end of the battle with Vaatu for a good deal and even more so when fused.
* Wan surviving for many years despite apparently frequent battles, trying to [[TheAtoner make up for his mistakes]].
* The writers should be praised for making simple things, such as the return of [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the Dancing Dragon and Aang's Sphere of Destruction]], give you ''chills''.
** And for the fact that, despite 'Beginnings' being Wan's history told over a mere two episodes, the final fight with Vaatu ''still'' manages to feel rather like the end of a long journey and development for Wan and Raava. In the context of how Korra lost her memories, and how she has to be reminded of who she is, the [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback]] could have come across as a vehicle to get her back on track. Instead, it's a story all of its own.
** Plus the praise the episodes have gotten as one of the absolute highlights of the entire franchise. Even people who dislike the rest of Book 2 love them.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Guide ]]

* Korra finally masters the spirit calming technique that she had been trying to use since she saw it.
* [[ChildProdigy Jinora]] being able to enter into the Spirit World in a few minutes, when her dad couldn't and [[HardWorkHardlyWorks he has been trying all day.]]
** All day? He'd been trying ''all his life.'' And Jinora accomplished it at age 10.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: A New Spiritual Age ]]

* Korra is trapped among hostile spirits and even turns into a child, so all seems lost...until a familiar figure appears. The Dragon of the West is back!
* Korra [[ExploitedTrope Exploiting]] her status as FisherKing in the Spirit World, willing three hostile spirits back to their good side, while still a child.
** And she doesn't even do it as the Avatar. She just calmly states to these dogs (these pants-shittingly horrifying giant dogs, to boot), that she's taking the bird home, as the clouds disperse to reveal the sun behind her. It shows how she's realised her worth as a ''person'' in her own right.
* The restoration of the Dragon-Bird is downright beautiful. One moment, there's four little chicks in a nest; the next, they've [[FusionDance fused]] into a massive, majestic phoenix-like bird. Which then lets Korra ''ride'' it.
** The Dragon-Bird gets another one at the end of the episode, [[BigDamnHeroes rescuing Korra from her murderous uncle]]. And by "rescuing", we mean "swooping in and sending Unalaq flying with a well-aimed tail smack."
* Jinora, a ten-year old, [[BroughtDownToNormal depowered]] girl, has more courage in her than Unalaq, a middle-aged man in his [[{{Pun}} element]].
** We see her give Unalaq a brilliant ShutUpHannibal in the Spirit Library, also a CMOH as we see just how much she loves her dad:
---> '''Unalaq''': I can't believe Tenzin sent his daughter here instead of coming himself. What kind of a father is he?\\
'''Jinora''': Better than you.
** And when Unalaq threatens to destroy her soul if Korra doesn't open the Northern Portal, Jinora yells "Don't do it!" At the age of ''ten'' she is willing to die rather than let other people suffer from Unalaq's schemes.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Night of a Thousand Stars ]]

* Bolin versus the Water Tribe kidnappers. For bonus points, his actions closely mirror that of his movie counterpart.
** It's great to see the comic relief/delegated to the sidelines Bolin finally get to show off his fantastic earthbending and be a hero on and off the big screen.
* Tonraq and Unalaq fight. It's closer than a lot of people probably thought it would be. Tonraq nearly punches his brother right in the face at one point, but Unalaq ultimately defeats him.
* Varrick is captured and Mako gets to be a detective!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Harmonic Convergence ]]

* The raid on the Southern Water Tribe Spirit Portal It failed, but not before these choice moments:
** Bolin and Mako devastating the encampment with bombs and flames when they only had a single plane. Asami's piloting skills, dodging massive blocks of ice, bordered on prescience.
** Eska and Desna managing to get them down when everyone else failed.
** Bumi sacrificing himself to help get rid of a Dark Spirit, followed up by accidentally devastating the entire encampment and rescuing the captured team with Naga.
*** The best part has to be at the end Bumi gets ejected out of one of the Mecha Tanks, causing him to go sliding straight into Eska and Desna from behind and completely knocking them over. Then when they try to attack him from behind, Naga slams both of them into the ground!
*** Bumi calming down one of the spirits with ''music''!
*** Before using music, Bumi unleashed an incredible barrage of jabs followed by one hell of an uppercut. It didn't quite work, but the uppercut visibly MADE THE SPIRIT FLINCH!
* Mako and Bolin versus Unalaq.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Darkness Falls ]]

* Korra gets off to a magnificent start during the battle against Vaatu and her uncle. Just as Vaatu is swooping down to fuse with Unalaq, Korra invokes the Avatar State, blasts Vaatu back with fire, then grabs Unalaq with air, flinging him back into the material world.
** During the ensuing fight against Vaatu, Korra very nearly manages to seal him like Wan did. Alas, Unalaq intervened at the last moment.
* Korra versus Vaatu. All of it.
* Tenzin managing to realize that he is more than just Aang's son and breaking free of the fog's effects, rescuing his siblings and Jinora in the process.
* Just as Korra is close to defeat and everything is about to black out, Raava speaks to Korra telepathically, motivating Korra not to give up and that she is the Avatar. Korra, in her Avatar state, rises out to the chasm that Unalaq nearly crushes her with, and turns the fight to her favor. Even better, the theme from the original series starts playing after Korra's rise.
-->'''Korra:''' ''YOU CANNOT WIN.''

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Light in the Dark ]]

* Varrick escapes prison on a hang glider.
-->'''Varrick:''' [Zhu Li!] Do...''the thing!''
* Korra soulbending a giant version of herself. She and an enlarged Dark Avatar then face off in Republic City's harbor.
** Their BeamOWar with their [[ChestBlaster Chest Blasters]] was one of the high points of this fight, Korra completely overpowering and delivering a well deserved beatdown on Unalaq was awesome. She only lost the advantage when she tried to pull out Raava, but still she nearly sent Unalaq flying ''through a mountain''. The form she used is just as powerful, if not moreso than the Avatar State! And keep in mind that Raava had ''nothing'' to do with it. This was ''all Korra''.
* Korra defeating the Dark Avatar with Unalaq's [[HoistByHisOwnPetard own spiritual technique]].
* Korra and Raava re-merging.
* Jinora appearing during Unalaq and Korra's fight to help Korra end Unalaq once and for all.
* At a Southern Water Tribe conference, Korra declares the Southern Water Tribe independent and her father is appointed the new Southern Water Tribe Chief. Korra also decides to keep the portals open between the Spirit and the Human world in hopes that the humans and spirits can co-exist, while she strives to guide the world towards peace and balance.

[[/folder]]

!!Book 3: Change

[[folder: A Breath of Fresh Air]]
* Zaheer's jail break. He takes out benders of every type using airbending, which he's barely had a chance to get used to.
* Apparently, there was once an air nomad guru who was so in tune with his element, he spent the last 40 years of his life never touching the ground.
** Of course, the guy who claims this admits that said bender lived millenniums ago and most existing records of the man are just children's fables he wrote, but Zaheer remains adamant that there's a kernel of truth in there.
** The finale proves that this may actually have been a true story
** To note, the credibility of the story is irrelevant. He knows the true value is the lesson it teaches and the wisdom within the Guru's recorded words, "instinct is a lie told by a fearful body hoping to be wrong". As Zaheer put it, when we have expectations based only on what we've seen, we're blind to the possibilities of a new reality. In his case, the teachings helped him quickly adjust to becoming an airbender, unlike all the other new airbenders we previously saw .
* Korra talking down a suicidal new Airbender and convinces him to join the new Air Nomads. [[ShoutOut Superman would be proud.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Rebirth of a Nation]]
* Ghazan's jailbreak. He's spent his time in prison working out, and when he gets access to some rocks, he turns them into a flying shuriken of death magma!
** He's spent thirteen years in a wooden prison on the ocean. It was implied in the first season of AtlA that the reason the earth benders imprisoned by the fire nation lost hope, was because they were disconnected from their element. Ghazan has been disconnected from his element for thirteen years, and not only has he shrugged off thirteen years of interrogation, he still believes he'll escape strongly enough that he's working out until the time comes.
* Ming Hua. Not only is her fighting style based off of her not having arms, but she manages to keep her water tentacles in place even when she's at rest. This after being in prison for years.
* Zuko is riding a dragon. Considering that dragons are fully sentient beings whose trust and respect is VERY hard to earn, Zuko has clearly gone very far in his Sun-based fire skills. He has truly undone the mistakes and regrets of his Fire Lord great grandfather (One of two men who were the last known to have had dragon companions) and honored the memory of his Avatar Great Grandfather (the OTHER man of the two who had dragon companions). He can stand beside them as their equal.
** His manner is also notable. When told of the prisoners escaping, he is clearly, understandably, angry that this has happened. Importantly, Zuko also calmly explains what is going on and how he intends to deal with it. No ranting or threats that Zuko as a teenager, or a man more like Ozai would have resorted to. Zuko's response immediately makes it clear that he, at some point, became the fair and capable Fire Lord the world needed following Ozai's defeat.
** Hell, Zuko's appearance can in itself be considered a CrowningMomentOfAwesome. After two books of uncertainty and teasing by the Creators, we finally get to see him after a seven-year absence, and at this point, [[BadassGrandpa he's already pushing towards ninety]] and ''still fully capable of tracking down four highly dangerous convicts and moving to intercept their plans.''
** Not to mention the fact that, despite what he just said about the convicts being more than capable of dispatching groups of benders with ease, Zuko shows no hesitance in taking them head on. He was Fire Lord (and is still called "Lord Zuko") ''for a reason.''
** On a minor note, Zuko still talks and acts like the boy we knew and loved, only with 70 years of experience behind him. This is partially due to the writing, as well as his new voice actor, Bruce Davison, who managed to get Zuko's mannerisms and enunciation ''perfectly''. That's incredible attention to detail.
** Another minor note. Zuko doesn't wear long robes or a cloak or a crown to announce his royal lineage or anything. His clothing is tight and his armor is practical. He's dressed to ''fight''.
** Pay attention to the music in the background. The Tsungi Horn makes its return!
* Smaller achievement than most, but makes up for it by being highly personal and mixed with CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming: Bumi takes part in the Airbending exhibition by firing off multiple palm-blasts of wind. Considering that the first episode saw him only being able to do any tricks unconsciously and under extreme duress, this rapid increase of control is phenomenal. The small look of accomplishment he wears as Bolin praises the progress "just a couple of weeks of dedication can amount to" seals the deal.
* While it ''is'' in the middle of a [[UngratefulBastard tense moment]], another subtle example for Korra's CharacterDevelopment:
** After weeks of dealing with highly-stressful situations (for all of them), Korra is wanted removed from Republic City - Korra coldly brushes this off, saying she was leaving anyway, but the moment she's talking to Tenzin seconds later, it's about how happy she is they're going to begin rebuilding the Air Nation. Virtually no sign of anger at all, restrained or otherwise... and this is ''[[HotBlooded Korra]]'' we're talking about here.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Earth Queen]]
* Zuko, and his immediate handle on the situation by rationally discerning what the criminals next action would be, and moving to intercept them personally.
** Zuko's dragon. Where the dragons from the previous series were close-to-traditional, noodley-bodied Chinese dragons with some bat wings on their middles, Zuko's steed has a bit more Western characteristics blended in and is much, ''much'' bulkier and visibly strong. Only people with the greatest of integrity and personal strength can earn a dragon's respect and companionship, let alone such a fine specimen.
* Korra not being oblivious and calling the Earth Queen out on being ObviouslyEvil. [[GenreSavvy She's clearly learned her lesson from Unalaq.]]
** And that savviness extended to their fight with the motorcycle gang (see below): while escaping, the head proclaims the Avatar's on the wrong side of this fight, as that money belongs to the people, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen not the Queen.]] Rather than outright dismiss this, Korra tentatively asks "Why do I get the feeling he's ''[[VillainHasAPoint right]]?''
* Korra and Asami fighting off a motorcycle gang. Especially Asami's actions, which include racing ''toward'' speeding vehicles coming straight at her, expertly leaping up at the right moments, then slamming the vehicles/their riders to the ground. Helped by the fact that she hasn't had a real fight scene in a season.
** Also, before the fight begins, when the duo are surrounded by burly, heavily-armed brutes on motorcycles, the only reaction Korra and Asami have is one of slight annoyance. They're ''that'' confident in their abilities.
* Desna and Eska working with Tonraq and Zuko after the Civil War, back when the former two were the bad guys. This is the first time we get to see them do something as good guys.
** As an added bonus, the twins are co-ruling the Northern Water Tribe. [[http://swan2swan.tumblr.com/post/90167962547/imagine-the-controversial-snowstorm-that-took This commentary just sums up how awesome this decision was.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: In Harm's Way]]
* P'Li's breakout.
-->'''Tonraq:''' That's no snowstorm. That's [[TheDreaded him.]]
** Zaheer holds his own against Tonraq. Also have to give Tonraq some credit, considering he was the only one that stood his ground until P'Li took him out.
** Ghazan beats Zuko without needing to resort to lava. Zuko does pretty well, though, [[BadassGrandpa considering he's well past his prime at this point]].
*** Especially when you consider the fact that the battle was at night in the arctic, meaning he was at a disadvantage.
** Ming-Hua efficiently takes out Desna and Eska (though the two put up a decent fight with some amazing moves of their own), then breaks out P'Li.
** Finally, P'Li is able to block ''dragon fire'', shoot said dragon down, then nearly blows up Tonraq to keep him away from Zaheer. One scene establishes that she is not an adversary to take lightly.
* Jinora using AstralProjection to locate Kai.
* Mako, Bolin, Jinora, and Kai take on three Dai Li agents. Mako and Bolin take point, using team tactics to take out two of them. Then the DrillSergeantNasty grabs Jinora, so Kai gets to score some payback by knocking him out.
* The rescue of the airbenders from the Earth Queen.
* On that note, let's look at the Earth Queen herself, and how the Dai Li unequivocally server. Remember in the previous series? Where the Earth King was just a puppet controlled by his StateSec and their leader? Now imagine what kind of political maneuvering and force of personality she must have if she's now controlling the Dai Li and not the other way around.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Metal Clan]]
* Zaheer's plan to find the avatar by infiltrating the new airbenders in Republic City. It didn't work, thanks to Korra and Tenzin splitting up, but kudos for trying.
* Points to Kya for seeing through Zaheer's disguise and taking him on; although he proved too much to handle, she gave him a pretty good fight.
** The animation in this fight scene between them is simply ''fantastic'' as well. Studio Mir knocks it out of the park.
*** Particularly where she grabs him in mid-escape with waterbending - Zaheer being on a stolen glider - and then slams him into the ground.
*** And when her final attack is picking up the entire pond and throwing it at him. Pity Zaheer simply sidesteps and launches an air bullet at her.
*** And despite it being established that Kya is the best fighter out of Aang's children, she's still GenreSavvy enough to call for back-up as soon as the fight starts.
*** Up until now, Zaheer had easily beaten any bender who got in his way. Kya managed to give him the first real fight we saw him involved in in the series.
* Varrick plans to create a magnetic railway! Give it a little time, and Zaofu will have it's own ''Shinkansen'' line, and if they export it, just imagine the possibilities for international shipping, transportation, and leisure activities, if the idea of magnetism is applied to other fields. A clean, efficient mode of transportation -and potentially energy, given time to develop the proper technology to harness it- unreliant on fossil fuels, and only barely reliant on bender power to give it the push needed. Varrick was right, the future of Zaofu could very well be magnets!
* Korra calling Lin out on her rudeness.
** Her plan to use Opal to lighten Lin up is one when you think about it; it's a light-handed, subtle approach that uses diplomacy and the human element. Sure couldn't see season 1 Korra thinking up something like this; it's some good character development.
* The very existence of the Metal Clan and [[AbsurdlyCoolCity Zaofu]] itself. An entire city devoted single-mindedly to innovation, freedom of expression and meritocracy? Yes, please!
** Say nothing of the visuals we get while flying into the city via airship, much less the transportation from district to district by rail. Dear god, the whole place is pretty much SceneryPorn at its finest! It definitely qualifies as a moment for the animators and artists.
** And again, the [[DesignStudentsOrgasm design of the city]] itself counts as this, both for the animators, and for Baatar, Suyin's husband. The the layout of each individual section of the city is designed in such a way that they resemble lotus flowers in bloom during the day, but at night, the individual "petals" (in reality, probably massive blast shields) close over the districts like a protective shield on massive hydrolic pistons in a way that's highly reminscient of the way the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3 expand and retract in ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]''. Not to mention he's the primary architect for the city, and is constantly expanding upon and renovating/upgrading the original design. No wonder Su married the man, he's a bona fide genius!
* Suyin, point blank. After two seasons of [[WorfEffect Lin accomplishing nothing]], we have Toph's other daughter, who is actually worthy of her mother. Like Toph, she left her home at an early age, and wandered the world to find herself. After becoming an master in several arts, including metal bending, she married an architect and made her home in an empty valley. Said valley is now home to a city that makes the planet Krypton look like a caveman built it with Lego. And the basic philosophy of the inhabitants of this city is to be as awesome as humanly possible.
** A ferocious sea pirate fixes her gourmet meals. And she invites MagnificentBastard [[EnsembleDarkhorse Varrick]] to dinner. She is definitely Toph's daughter.
** Nobody in her city can lie, they raise massive shields at night, and she talks smack about the [[EntitledBastard Earth Queen]] over dinner. When she says her city is safer than Republic City, Lin is visibly jealous and doesn't deny it.
* The invention of the game "Power Disk", courtesy of Suyin's twin sons, Wei and Wing.
** "Invention" might be too strong a word here- there's clearly some major influence from airball there. Still, props for managing to make it work with an entirely different kind of bending.
* Opal calling out Bolin for doing his usual [[CasanovaWannabe Casanova]] pick up lines and then advising him to just be himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Old Wounds]]
* How about the fact that you can actually use metalbending for acupuncture techniques/therapy? Metalbending multiple, tiny, sharp needles ''simultaneously'', with such precise accuracy that there is no risk to the patient whatsoever. It ties into the idea on the [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming CMOH]] page of bending being used for more than just combat or sports, showing that it can be integrated into nearly every aspect of society, if one only puts their mind to the task and remains open to new ideas. Another example of the awesome culture that drives Zaofu to be what it is to this day.
* Korra learning how to metalbend, and managing to bend the meteorites into recognizable shapes within a day.
* Opal getting in-between her mother and aunt while they're fighting, knocking away both their attacks with airbending blasts.
** While it did end with Lin wearing herself out- much to the concern of all involved- the fight between the Beifong sisters was definitely this, both for the two of them, and Suyin in particular. From a martial arts standpoint, it was an incredible demonstration of the unique differences in either sister's bending styles, and which parts of their mother's own style they incorporated into their bending. Watching the fight, Lin's approach is all about power, defense, strong attacks that are rooted firmly to the earth and pack a lot of punch, which is very much in line with the real-world martial art earthbending is based off of (Southern Hung Gar). Conversely, Suyin's style resembles that of her mother's unique earthbending from the original series (based off of Southern Praying Mantis), emphasizing speed, agility, redirecting an opponent's inertia, and wearing down the enemy with fast strikes while keeping out of their reach. While in an even fight, the two styles might cancel one another out, because Lin came into the battle physically weaker, Suyin had the upper-hand, and could've easily won. That's not to say that Lin lasting as long as she did, let alone trying to continue the fight in her condition, wasn't as impressive. Far from it, actually. Hell, it was amazing she could even stand, let alone bend at nearly her full potential!
*** Even then, both sisters still brought their own personal touches into the fighting styles. Suyin was quite fond of backflips (and pivoting), whereas Lin jumped around high and a lot (with mid-air flips as well).
* While a major dick-move, Suyin commenting on how [[TakeThat Lin's abrasiveness is the reason Tenzin broke up with her]] is pure awesome for someone to say and emerge unscathed. It's a double CMOA for Suyin especially considering it's the piece that led to the two sister to immediately come to blows with each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Original Airbenders]]
* The new airbenders fighting the {{Evil Poacher}}s and winning.
* Bumi shows his natural leadership skills and helps organize the Airbending recruits to help rescue Jinora and Kai.
* Kai breezing through the airbending obstacle course in a snap, including getting past everyone else who's struggling ahead of him.
* Kai beating the bison poacher for kidnapping the sky bison and Jinora: "You can think you can take away Jinora, and these baby bison!?" Tenzin is forced to step in and stop him, but still praises Kai's technique - it's not hard to hear that he subtly enjoyed it as well.
* Jinora keeping up with her father during the '''10 mile hike'''.
** Asking help from a spirit when she was unable to use her AstralProjection.
** Also doubles as a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: After Kai frees himself, he goes to free Jinora, but this selfless child tells Kai to free the baby bison first.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Terror Within]]
* Korra displaying her new metalbending skills.
-->'''Suyin:''' Congratulations! You're now the first metalbending Avatar.
* The entire fight to stop the Red Lotus from kidnapping Korra. Highlights include:
** P'Li curving her combustion shots to hit targets behind cover.
** Ghazan using his lava bending to turn a makeshift metal cage into a lava moat, with the remains of the cage providing cover.
** Ming-Hua providing cover for P'Li, making it nearly impossible to land a hit on her.
** Zaheer, once Lin has gotten away with Korra, creates a smokescreen that not only lets them escape, but flash-cools the lava moat.
** Bolin managing to knock out P'Li's combustion bending with a precision rock attack, ''right'' before she can blast Su and Lin.
** Lin and Su roping in to save Korra from the roof, and Su shooting Zaheer out of the sky when he tries to stop them.
** Wei and Wing, despite being [[ChildProdigy very young]], still hold their own against the powerful benders.
** Even the Zaofu guards hold their own reasonably well.
*** To put their skill in perspective, they managed to pull Zaheer out of the circle his group had set up, then keep him separated until Lin had grabbed Korra and was pulling her to safety. By comparison, he beat Kya and two White Lotus firebenders in half the time.
* Korra and the gang figuring out that Aiwei is a traitor.
** Likewise, Aiwei being CrazyPrepared enough to escape and destroy any evidence.
*** Aiwei really deserves extra credit for how in control he is from the second he confronts the group in his living room. While the kids fumble pathetically to come up with half-truths in a desperate attempt to slip past his truth sense, Aiwei smoothly and casually offers explanations for Mako's initial suspicions, nonchalantly restoring the order of his shelf while the Krew watches and cringes, and not missing a beat when he sees his tunnel is discovered and drops his escape cover.
* Remember how potent shirshu venom was in the first series? Well, it takes ''three'' darts of it to bring Naga down.
** Or Ming Hua didn't know how much of a dose she needed and overcompensated to be safe.
** It took roughly ''five'' licks from a shirshu to put down an adult sky bison like Appa in the original series. If Naga needed that much venom to be put down (intentionally or otherwise), that cements how strong a threat she is.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Stakeout]]
* Zaheer being able to communicate to his team while being in the Spirit World.
* Mako and Bolin fighting Ghazan and Mingu-Hua despite being heavily outmatched. They may have lost but they did buy enough time for the others to escape.
* Zaheer can teleport through the Spirit World with ease.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Long Live The Queen]]
* In a moment doubling as massive NightmareFuel, Zaheer performs a KickTheSonOfABitch moment and suffocates the Earth Queen with airbending, delivering a [[PreMortemOneLiner premortem]] ReasonYouSuckSpeech while ''literally'' sucking the air from her lungs.
--> '''Zaheer''': You think freedom is something you can give or take on a whim, but to your people, freedom is just as essential as... ''air.'' And without it, there is no life. There is only... ''darkness''.
** And with that, Zaheer has ''completely'' turned the notion of airbending as a defensive, non-lethal discipline on its head.
** Before that, using airbending and stealth to get into the Earth Queen's throne hall and eavesdrop without even the Dai Li detecting him.
* Ghazan effortlessly destroying the inner wall in Ba Sing Se. To put it in perspective, it took several Earthbenders from the previous series to tear down the wall.
* To put the whole thing in perspective, when Azula took over Ba Sing Se, she co-opted the Dai Li and had them do most of the leg work. It took her two days. The Red Lotus came to Ba Sing Se with no intent to overthrow the queen, got tired of waiting, and liberated the entire city in roughly two hours ''by themselves''.
* Korra and Asami for the entire episode. Captured by the Earth Kingdom, they proceed to quickly break out, non-lethally take down the crew of the airship they're on, crashing the airship in the process. They then recruit the soldiers to help them salvage the airship for parts to build a sand skimmer, sail across the desert, take down a giant sand-whale creature that tries to eat them, and return to civilization with the respect and thanks of the men previously holding them prisoner.
** Special mention goes to Asami ''prying the metal railing off the wall,'' freeing herself. Shoddy workmanship or not, that's a great show of strength.
** The giant sand-shark creature. When it fully reveals itself for the first time - via ''cracking the newly-repaired airship'' '''in half''' ''with little effort'' - you know it's a legitimate threat to the group.
* The Red Lotus effortlessly taking down the Dai Li. They are the only one to do so in the fastest amount of time.
* Between trying to get Bolin to metalbend, Mako manages to blowtorch through one of the bars of the cell.
* The animators deserve some props for the creature that was pursuing Korra, Asami, and the Earth Queen's forces. They used an animal many viewers might have never heard of and [[ShownTheirWork still made it pretty accurate.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Ultimatum]]
* Tenzin and Zaheer, the first time two Master Airbenders have ever engaged in battle with each other, and the choreography was ''excellent''. Ming-hua and Kya's Waterbending battle is also a sight to behold. Bumi managing to stay alive against a Master Lava Bender is pretty impressive as well.
** After spending much of the season showing that he is an uncanny prodigy in airbending, Zaheer gets thoroughly schooled by Tenzin. In the end, it takes the combined efforts of the ''entire Red Lotus'' to bring him down.
*** As far as fighting goes, this is really Tenzin's episode. For a man who preaches peace and harmony, it's easy to forget that he can ''throw down''. Just as all the airbenders and acolytes are rounded up, Tenzin single-handedly pushes back their captors to give everyone else time to escape.
** One can really note their differing ideologies and philosophies in the way they fight, and how severely outclassed Zaheer was: Whereas Tenzin moves in a graceful, evasive manner evocative of a leaf in the wind, countering his opponent's attacks by turning his momentum against him and moving through the air like a breeze, Zaheer prioritizes strength and brute force, utilizing his airbending to augment his jumps, as well as direct kicking and punching attacks that are meant to knock Tenzin off balance and possibly injure him - Tenzin simply uses the above mentioned techniques to evade Zaheer. Brute force won't do shit if your opponent can simply dodge and turn that raw power against you.
** Until P'Li steps in, Zaheer does not land a single blow on Tenzin during that entire fight.
*** Also, Tenzin's last successive attack on Zaheer is Aang's iconic one-legged T pose from Season 1's extended intro.
** A subtle moment for Zaheer in that his fight with Tenzin is clearly diversionary. He spends the first 30 seconds of their duel running away, drawing his most dangerous adversary away from his own allies. While he was clearly outclassed, he managed to pull of a strategic victory by stalling until the rest of the Red Lotus could save him. What Zaheer lacks in power and skill, he makes up for in cunning.
** One thing easily forgotten in all of this is that any member of the Red Lotus could take down any other bender in the world; even Zaheer who did not have bending before. Tenzin managed to curbstomp Zaheer and it's not until P'Li started spamming her combustions did Tenzin start to fail. These are the same people that gave trouble to the combined might of Eska, Desna, Tonraq and ''Zuko''.
* Well, P'Li is apparently a one woman gunship now. How they haven't just killed everyone with that is no clue.
* Kai having the bravery to distract P'Li long enough to help the other Air Nomads get away.
* Bumi vs Ghazan. Bumi's barely managing to stay alive until he switches tactics, jumping on Ghazan, pulling his hair and [[ManBitesMan biting]] him. Ghazan has been mowing through his opponents with ease throughout the entire season, and yet Bumi, [[FightsLikeANormal without even using his airbending]], manages to briefly get the better of him.
* [[CoolVersusAwesome Kya vs. Ming Hua]], full stop. Two badasses take on each other in combat in a brilliant display of waterbending, though Ming Hua eventually gets the better of Kya at the end.
* Tenzin's defiance towards Zaheer.
--> '''Tenzin''': I will ''never'' let you get to Korra.\\
'''Zaheer''': Unfortunately, you don't have a choice.\\
'''Tenzin''': ''[[PreAsskickingOneLiner Yes, I do.]]''
** and:
--> '''Zaheer''': Give up. It's over.\\
'''Tenzin''': [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner As long as I'm still breathing, it's not over.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Enter The Void]]
* Despite being chained at her hands and feet, Korra still manages to fend off Zaheer pretty well with her limited mobility.
* Ghazan uses his lavabending to basically ''melt an entire mountain''. He also turns Tenzin's home into a giant lava castle.
* As a result of Ghazan's attempt to kill them, Bolin discovers he can lavabend when he needs to save his brother and friends.
** Before that, Bolin manages to shove several metric tonnes of rock in their escape.
* Su and Lin team up to bring down P'Li, Lin running out from cover to draw her fire so Su can slam a metal jacket over P'Li's head just before she fires. [[YourHeadAsplode Kaboom.]]
* Zaheer pauses in the middle of battle, horrified at losing P'Li. This gives Korra a chance to fire an attack. Zaheer immediately dodges the attack after a moment of mourning, simply because he's devoted to the task at hand, confident that finishing off the Avatar would respect P'Li's sacrifice.
* Zaheer breaks out an airbending skill so ancient it was thought to be impossible: ''he flies'', unaided.
-->'''Zaheer''': Let go your earthly tether. [[TitleDrop Enter the void.]] Empty, and become wind.
* Lefty, Kai's faithful Sky Bison, managing to carry Kai, Bolin, Mako, Asami, and Tenzin. Take note that Lefty is still a baby calf and managed to carry five people, four of whom are full grown adults.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Venom of the Red Lotus]]
* As depressing as it was for Korra, it was kind of awesome to see the [[BigBad Big Bads]] from the previous seasons in her hallucination. Who ''didn't'' squeal like a fangirling Bolin when they heard Amon's voice again?
* The Red Lotus tries to force Korra into the Avatar State so they can kill her by poisoning her. [[UnstoppableRage This goes about as well as you'd expect.]] Korra physically tears her chains right out of the wall, takes out both Ghazan and Ming-Hua, then chases Zaheer with lethal intent until the poison finally stops her.
** Korra uses airbending to blast away Ghazan's lava. She must have put some incredible pressure behind that blast.
** After three seasons, we finally get to see Korra in full Avatar state and stuffing her opponent's every attempt to stop her. The Red Lotus chain her up and try to kill her when she accesses the Avatar state? Oops, her SuperStrength broke your precious little trap. Zaheer flies away? You forgot she's got rocket feet, bitch! He tries to be Superman and dodge her? HERE'S A MOUNTAIN FOR YOUR FACE. HOW 'BOUT TWO?! He's still trying to dodge? Maybe some ice on your feet will chill you out! Pretty much the ''only'' reason Zaheer makes it out of the fight is the poison weakening her. If there was ever ''any'' doubt that the Avatar state wasn't a [[UnstoppableRage feral]] [[PhysicalGod force of nature]], this fight shuts it down.
** Note that this was ''after'' all of the past avatars got slapped out of her by Unalaq. This means that everything Korra did was her and Raava, while Aang had the experience of the half-thousand or so past Avatars before him to create that awesome battle sphere.
** It's ''easily'' missed among the suspense of the scene/episode, but for a moment, Zaheer's expression heavily implied that he was shocked Korra [[HeroicWillpower resisted the poison's effects for so long]].
** Credit to Zaheer, though. He lasted a long time, avoiding every attack until Korra froze his foot and disabled his flight for a bit. More than that, though, when he attacks, he usually connects. He ultimately held out long enough for the poison to beat Korra, and it took Jinora and all the other airbenders working in concert to stop him.
** Another for Korra breaking her chains: either she used SuperStrength which was enough to shatter ''platinum'', which is several times heavier than iron, or she [[ExtraOreDinary metalbent]] platinum, something which is supposed to be impossible, even for the likes of Toph. No matter how she broke free, it's awesome.
* Mako takes down Ming-Hua. Half of the awesomeness is in the misdirection; Mako has her cornered and without water to fight with, so she dropped into a cavern full of water. Just as it looks like Ming-Hua will demolish Mako, he gets clear of the water and exploits the LogicalWeakness of a waterbender who is physically touching the water she's bending: electricity. Especially awesome because it makes Mako the only one to take down one of the main Red Lotus members on his own, and after an entire season free from lightning bending, it was unexpected for both Ming Hua AND the viewers.
* Bolin vs. Ghazan, Round 2. Ghazan actually commends Bolin on picking up [[MagmaMan lavabending]], and though Bolin ultimately loses on experience, he holds his own very well. Then Mako joins the fight, and Ghazan can't take them both.
** Ghazan then brings the entire cave down on top of them, preferring to do a TakingYouWithMe maneuver instead of returning to prison, with Bolin barely earthbending them out of there in time.
** One thing to note is ''how'' Bolin earthbends in these fights - Instead of merely dodging out on direct shots like he usually does he smashes some of the rocks being thrown at him head-on and manipulates the terrain even more. One can notice that he now appears much more confident following the discovery that he could lavabend.
** A subtle touch is Bolin winking at Ghazan when he reveals that he's picked up lavabending. After a season of expressing his disappointment at not being able to live up to the image of his hero Toph, he has good reason to be proud of discovering he possesses a near mythical form of bending. The wink expresses his newfound confidence perfectly.
* Jinora's master airbender ceremony, full-on awesome. Including Tenzin's RousingSpeech for Korra...and Jinora having shaved her head so that she looks like her [[GenerationXerox grandpa Aang when he was a kid.]]
** What Jinora did to earn it: leading the entire group of New Airbenders in ''summoning up a freaking tornado'' to stop Zaheer. It's made even more awesome by a remix of the original ''Avatar'' theme playing.
** A subtle moment when Jinora returns to the other airbenders after using her astral form to find an exit. She's has just found out that the only person with enough power to rescue them all is about to be killed. Does she panic? Does she cry or give up? '''No.''' Jinora just goes to devising a plan with the others to get them out. Jinora is C.U.P. or ''cool under pressure''!
* The imprisoned airbenders [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and Pema)]] conceiving and executing a feasible escape plan with some excellent stealthy airbending passes. It's too bad one of the guards happened to look back and see Opal unlocking her chains, or they could've made it -- still, it leads to an awesome Earthbending BigDamnHeroes.
** Asami shows us she still knows how to kick some ass by vaulting under a small rock opening and electrocuting an earthbender.
* Suyin metalbending the poison out of Korra, saving her life.
* Bolin stuffing a sock in Zaheer's face when he starts ranting about the Red Lotus is not yet defeated.
* Tenzin promising that the Air Nation will help fight evil, especially since Korra is currently out of commission. This is notable because such direct involvement in the world's affairs is a big departure from how the Air Nomad culture was run since its founding, and shows Tenzin's devotion to Korra and the nations he grew up a part of is just as great if not greater than his loyalty to his ancestral culture.
** It's also a great way of showing how after being all but exterminated by the Fire Nation nearly two centuries ago, the Air Nomads have finally reclaimed their place as one of the five nations of the world. Aang may not have been able to witness the restoration of his people, but his efforts paid off in the end.
[[/folder]]

!!Book 4: Balance

[[folder: After All These Years]]
* In the three years since the events of Book 3, Asami has spurred Future Industries into making a rail line that connects the United Republic of Nations with the still fractured Earth Kingdom so that supplies can be moved to still recovering areas with greater ease and safety.
* Kai and Opal effortlessly defeating a gang of thugs in Yi, Kai airbending their car hard enough to flip it then Opal catching them with airbending as they're flung from the seats.
* Though she may be the BigBad of this Book, you gotta hand it to Kuvira, managing to take out a gang of bandits almost twenty strong with nothing more than metalbent manacles and some effortless dodging is ''impressive''. Then she convinces all of them to join her army while reiterating that she's the one trying to save the Earth Kingdom.
** Related to the above, but the fact that the Governor of the State of Yi straight up ''refused'' Kuvira's offer (and it's implied that he had refused several times before) because he refused to compromise on his principles in the face of a woman whom he considered a conqueror and a warlord. Only when his people are sure to starve does he finally give in.
-->'''Kai:''' Hey, if it counts for anything, I think you made the right decision.\\
'''Governor:''' Did I really have a choice?
* In roughly three years, Kuvira went FromNobodyToNightmare, changing from the captain of the guard for a metalbending city to one of the most [[TheDreaded famous/infamous]] people in the entire world.
* The airbending flying suits. Takes the best part of the staff and incorporates it into a functional uniform which gives the user complete freedom of movement without sacrificing their ability to fly.
** And according to WordOfGod, Asami was the one to design them.
* When Kai is pushed off Lefty, and realizes that his flight suit is torn (making it nearly impossible for him to regain control and sending him spiraling), Opal makes an amazing dive after him, catching his arm on the torn side so the two of them can glide together and correct course.
* How Republic City has progressed in only three years. The citizens and spirits now live in harmony. When you just look at the new city, it makes you want to just get up and move there.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Korra Alone]]
* The fact that Korra traverses what looks like ''the entire world'', alone and on foot, completely by herself, save for the occasional accompaniment of [[spoiler: an incredibly disturbing vision of herself lost in the avatar state.]]
* Katara getting Korra walking again. This is where getting the legendary Eva Marie Saint really pays off.
* Avatar Kyoshi apparently once defeated a giant squid/shark hybrid with one hand.
* Korra vs. [[spoiler:Hallucination!Korra.]] Yes this is, no doubt, terrifying for Korra and seeing her get beaten to a pulp is quite unsettling; but to see a fight where both participants can [[spoiler: bend all four elements]] is a pretty rare + awesome treat.
** What makes this even better, [[spoiler: This is the first time in the series we see a fight where both participants can bend all four elements.]] This is the equivalent of Thor vs. Iron Man in The Avengers.
* After three whole seasons, we finally get to see [[spoiler: Toph, in the flesh and not in a flashback! And she is every bit the mischievous, sarcastic little girl we knew and loved! And like Zuko, she still talks the same even in her old age!]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Coronation]]
* Suyin's retort to Kuvira's claims of being an agent of the people that [[ShutUpHannibal she didn't get into power by earning the people's support, but by forcing them to join her.]]
** Not one to be one-upped, Kuvira still gets the last word in:
--->"Then you know what's coming for Zaofu."
* Toph wipes the floor with Korra repeatedly, even in her old age. She effortlessly dodges even airbending blasts, the very thing which Aang used to take her by surprise in "The Blind Bandit".
** Toph also claims that because the swamp's roots travel all over the Earth Kingdom, she can see ''everything.'' She keeps track of her daughters in Republic City and Zaofu. Toph's generally not given over to exaggerating her abilities, which means her seismic sense is so far beyond what it was in the original series that it's not even comparable. This may also be why she can now "see" air blasts.
---> '''Toph:''' Compared to me, you're blind.
** Toph says that neither of her daughters picked up metalbending all that well. Considering how badass both her daughters are, that [[BadassBoast says a lot about how powerful Toph has become since we last saw her.]]
** She can actually pick out trace amounts of poison metal in Korra's body that both Korra and Suyin missed.
* Kuvira's refusal to hand over control of the Earth Kingdom is an [[TheUntwist Untwist]], but the sheer brazenness of her actions is spectacular. She declares her intentions in the middle of Republic City during the coronation of the very king she's supposed to restore to power, with the eyes of the world press on her and the assembled leaders of the world seated behind her. She concludes by stating, clear and simple, that she will ''crush'' anybody who tries to interfere. [[VillainWithGoodPublicity This news is greeted with cheers by the Earth Kingdom citizens present at the coronation]].
** Earlier, she humiliates Prince Wu by managing to get the king-to-be downgraded from the Presidential Suite in favor of herself. [[EvilIsPetty Petty]], but it sets the tone.
* Mako calling out Prince Wu, remarking that, while Kuvira might be a power-mad tyrant, that doesn't make him good for the Earth Kingdom, and that Wu should be asking himself if he is the type of person he would want to be running the kingdom. Wu breaks down, and admits that he isn't. It takes guts to call out your boss, but it takes just as much to admit that it to yourself. A sheer contrast to Kuvira, who puts dissidents in camps, according to Tenzin. If he wants to be a good king, he's off to a good start.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Calling]]
* Korra [[spoiler:bending the metal out of her body, and entering the Avatar State.]]
* Korra using the Banyan Grove Tree to locate Jinora.
* Ikki plays her Earth Empire captors like a tsungi horn, casually manipulating them into not only helping her narrow down the search for Korra, but giving her some macaroons, too.
** She also gets them to reveal the position and movements of Kuvira's army.
** Ikki's role as the [[OnlySaneMan only sensible one]] of the air siblings. Meelo insists on turning their mission into a [[MachoDisasterExpedition Macho Disaster Expedition]] and Jinora is too focused on trying to sense Korra's presence rather than actually ''looking'' for her. When Meelo throws away their food and insists that they go hunting, she reminds him that they don't eat meat. When Jinora and Meelo want to leave the swamp, Meelo was being a bit of a jerk and Jinora couldn't sense Korra here, Ikki insists that they keep looking. Basically, despite calling it a team effort, the air siblings would never had found Korra if it weren't for Ikki.
* Meelo's photo-realistic drawing of Korra, after being built up as something on par with Sokka's drawings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Enemy at the Gates]]
* Bolin, Zhu Li, and Varrick in a mech fight with Baatar Jr. and two grunts. Zhu Li manages to fight off two by herself since her boss is no help, and Bolin lavabends the two mooks once his mech is taken out.
** Bonus points to Bolin for actually being a lot more dangerous ''outside'' the mecha suit than within!
** Addendum to this: the mecha suits are essentially [[ShoutOut Mk1 Iron Man suits]] complete with [[ShockAndAwe Lightning blasters]], flamethrowers and retractable [[SpiderMan metal cables]] for assisting in movement. This makes the suits [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]] in combat, even [[NoSell shrugging off]] Bolin's earthbending. Lavabending on the other hand completely subverts the ConvectionShmonvection trope by [[RealityEnsues having it play out how it actually would against armored soldiers]].
** When the mecha tanks were first introduced, they made short work of Korra, Lin, Tenzin, and the police. Here, Bolin manages to defeat two modernized versions with one powerful lavabending move.
* While a villainous one (as she's pledging her loyalty to Kuvira), you gotta give Zhu Li some credit for finally calling out Varrick for making her do all his work while not giving her an ounce of gratitude.
-->"Guards, [[IronicEcho do the thing!]]"
* Varrick pulling Zhu Li back into the train, showing genuine concern for someone else for the first time.
** And though it didn't work out in his favor [[spoiler: considering he nearly died in the process]], Varrick immediately realizing that the spirit vine project was a bad idea and then telling ''Kuvira'' "No" to continuing the project has to count for something.
* Korra's CharacterDevelopment. At the beginning of the series, she undoubtedly would have simply charged into Kuvira's camp to take her out. Now, even in the face of Suyin's demand that she do just that, Korra firmly attempts to seek a peaceful resolution before anything else.
* While quite [[NightmareFuel terrifying]], the display of sheer power when Varrick's overcharged spirit vine blasts a massive hole through a military-grade train wall - and the rock formation behind it - is awesome to behold.
* After three seasons of being an ExtremeDoormat, Zhu Li finally grows a personality, and it's awesome.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Battle at Zaofu]]
* [[spoiler: Kuvira delivers a CurbStompBattle to Korra. Though it is sad, it is nothing short of awesome]].
** Though conversely, [[spoiler:Korra practically mops the floor with her once she goes Avatar state; the only reason she still loses is [[WorfHadTheFlu because Dark Korra briefly appears to her as Kuvira's face, shocking her enough to block the Avatar state again]]. Even if it was short, seeing Kuvira finally bite the dust was safistying.]]
** A more subtle bit of awesomeness is Korra's resilience. Back in episode 1, Kuvira took down the bandits with a bunch of [[OneHitKO One Hit KOs]]. In her duel with Korra, however, Kuvira is forced to slam Korra to the ground ''eight consecutive times'', and not even that stops her from invoking the Avatar State and nearly winning. Kuvira may be a metalbending prodigy, but Korra is MadeOfIron.
** Another villainous example, but Kuvira [[spoiler:manages to conquer the city of Zaofu and earns her MagnificentBastard credentials in record time. ''One episode, no less!''[[note]]For reference, it took Amon 6 episodes.[[/note]] To elaborate, she highly anticipated that Suyin would strike first and try to stop her, so she set up a BatmanGambit to capture her, thus maintaining her VillainWithGoodPublicity status while making Suyin and Zaofu the aggressors and giving her a PretextForWar. That forced Korra to challenge Kuvira to a one-on-one duel for the fate of Zaofu which she loses badly. Kuvira then attempted to murder Korra, an act that would benefit her either way she would either be rid of an enemy or it would force Opal and Jinora to interfere and break the terms of their agreement, thus giving Kuvira the excuse she needs to invade Zaofu. And though Bolin and Varrick manage to escape, Baatar has seen enough of the spirit vine experiment to restart the project with Zhu Li's help. Put simply, [[TheBadGuyWins she won decisively]].]] Amon would be proud.
* [[spoiler: Baatar and Huan's stand in defiance of Kuvira while the whole Zaofu kneels before her]].
** Even more impressive is [[spoiler:the fact they keep their calm while doing so; in fact, Baatar Jr ends up the one getting irritated and tries to order them to do it. Baatar Sr's sole reaction is to give him a sad, calm look, and [[DisappointedInYou tell him how disappointed he is]]. The Earth Empire may have won, but Baatar Jr clearly gets no satisfaction out of this victory.]]
* [[spoiler: Varrick makes a time bomb [[TakingYouWithMe to take himself and his wardens with himself]]. And when they try to stop him, he reveals that [[XanatosGambit it has also a remote control]], so they have to leave! And then the train blows up... While Varrick is a {{Jerkass}} and MadScientist, he is awesome]]
-->'''Baatar Jr''': YoureInsane
-->'''Varrick''': [[InsultBackfire You knew that when you hired me!]]
** He's practically what King Bumi would call a "mad genius".
** Bonus points for [[spoiler: Bolin's saving him and telling him [[ShutUpHannibal that he sucks]], after Varrick praises him for rescue]].
-->'''Bolin''': I just want you to know: I hate you.
** ''(later)''
-->'''Bolin:''' I can't believe Zhu Li worked for you as long as she did.
** Also, it's made clear that Varrick really was willing to kill himself to stop the technology from ever being used. [[Film/{{Gojira}} Dr. Serizawa]] would be proud.
** Even more bonus points for the fact that Varrick was able to rig all of this despite being watched by Baatar Jr. like a hawk and forced to explain what he is doing to him. The fact that Varrick managed to get what he was doing past another man of science who should know at least the basic rudiments of what he is doing takes a lot of skill.
*** It also shows that Varrick was right when he said that Baatar Jr. had no idea about how stuff works, as he was examining the device earlier but was unable to figure out the device would redirect energy back into itself.
*** [[spoiler:He had a suspicion that the configuration would feedback on itself, but had no idea what that would do, i.e. create a bomb, and Varrick quickly sidestepped the subject when directly asked about it. Baatar Jr. still knows far too little about the fire he's playing with.]]
** Varrick started up a [[spoiler: FantasticNuke]] with a [[PercussiveMaintenance solid kick]]. You have to admit, that takes a certain amount of ''guts''.
* Opal and Jinora holding back Kuvira's entire army until they can escape with Korra. Followed by Opal doing it ''by herself'' so Jinora can contact Meelo.
* Primarily a moment of funny, but the fact that Meelo painted a portrait of himself in noble attire and lordly bearing that would be worthy of the Louvre in what must have been about one morning. As similar as they are in personality, that kid is about as far from his granduncle Sokka as you can get, artistically.
* It may not have succeeded due to a decoy, but the fact that Su, Wei, and Wing could sneak into an enemy encampment without being seen speaks volumes. They could give the Blue Spirit a run for his money.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Reunion]]
* After three years of work in the Air Nation, Bumi's belly has gone flat as a board.
* Bolin [[spoiler: [[ShutUpHannibal tells Varrick that he isn't Zhu Li]], after the latter insists on Bolin carrying him piggyback. Varrick understands... and asks Bolin to ride piggyback on him]]!
* Korra, Asami and Mako [[spoiler: save Prince Wu from his kidnappers,]] working as a team after three years apart.
** Special mention to Asami, [[spoiler: who still kept the [[ShockAndAwe Equalist glove]] as her main weapon after ''three years'']], and is still very capable of kicking butt.
* Korra has learned a new, extremely awesome ability. After her time with Toph, it appears she has retained the ability to [[spoiler: use spirit vines to see across distances. She even manages to use the same power without a spirit vine, in the train station!]]
* After [[spoiler: the hard beating she took]] last episode, it was great to see that Korra is [[spoiler: back to being able to throw down with most benders. She may not be ready for a rematch with Kuvira, but Kuvira's goons certainly came out of that fight sore. Possibly most impressive is how fast Korra's gotten to be with her metal-bending.]]
* Varrick [[spoiler:saves Bolin from the mechs by MacGyvering up an EMP. CrazyAwesome]]!
** And then Bolin follows it up by [[spoiler: going back and [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomping]] the mooks who were giving the refugees trouble.]]
** We also need to note that [[spoiler:it took ''three'' mechs to keep Bolin from completely dominating the fight.]]
** Beforehand, both Bolin's and Varrick's BavarianFireDrill acting. Varrick delivers an epic rant (as expected considering how much of a charismatic manipulator the guy is) but Bolin was straight-up impressing and convincing.
* Bolin creates a shockwave of earth to throw back [[spoiler: the escaped Kuvira prisoners]] and then makes a moat of lava to keep them back. [[WithMyHandsTied With only his feet, since his hands were tied together.]] Varrick gets a few points as well for being GenreSavvy enough to know that was Bolin's plan, and hops up over the shockwave just in time.
* Steve Blum returning to the show as one of the good guys, using the exact same voice as [[Anime/CowboyBebop Spike Spiegel]].
* The sheer sight of water and fire benders working together against a common foe, with absolutely no in-fighting. They also deserve credit for putting up a good fight against Earth Empire soldiers.
** It helps that their leaders, Baraz and Ahnah, bear a slight resemblance to Mako and Korra or even Zuko and Katara.
* Zhu Li carried Varrick for twenty miles on a sprained ankle after their escape at the end of Book 2. ''In one day!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Remembrances]]
* We ''finally'' get to see Mako being good and told off for what a jerk he was to Korra and Asami in the first two Books.
** Tu even gives a surprising insight on Mako's flaw:
-->'''Mako:''' Well, me and Asami were never officially back together.
-->'''Tu:''' Really? That again? Ya' know, it seems like you're so afraid to disappoint anyone, that you end up disappointing everyone.
* Be honest, you want to see Varrick's mover adaptation of the show.
* [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B29XsTOCQAABY8A.jpg This shot]]. Amon, Vaatu, Zaheer, and The Evil Unalaq all interacting with each other over the phone is one heck of a sight.
* Mike and Bryan's reaction to getting their budget cut and being forced to make a ClipShow. Not only did they take the opportunity to highlight the CharacterDevelopment several members of the Krew had gone through, but they essentially made this show's answer to "The Ember Island Players" by first having Mako's story constantly interrupted by the fans' issues with it, and then recording all new lines to make a whole comedy sketch for Varrick's story.
* Asami adamantly refusing to let Korra be down on herself, sternly denying what Toph said about the world not needing her, and quickly pointing out all of the good things that have come from Korra's actions throughout the series.
** In particular, as a nonbender, her views on the fall of the Equalists and the resulting changes in the city carry a lot of weight.
* Tenzin coming in and acknowledging to Korra that the Avatar will never be able to completely eliminate all conflict, but the Avatar's purpose is to resolve said conflicts when they arise and restore balance.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Beyond the Wilds]]

* Fire Lord Izumi's refusal to [[spoiler: participate in a preemptive strike on Kuvira proposed by Raiko]] due to the harsh fact that the Fire Nation has been engaged in war for ''years'', and she's not wrong. Not only that, she explicitly states that she'll only discharge her soldiers into combat as a last resort. Note that this was Izumi's ''first scene'' actually speaking, and it's her making it clear that she won't take part in senseless fighting without reason unlike previous Fire Lords have done.
** But she still shows that she's a ReasonableAuthorityFigure by agreeing to provide resources to fortify Republic City's borders.
* Jinora showing off her Airbending skills when trying to escape the spirit vines, [[spoiler: and even when she gets captured she manages to calm down enough to send a message to Korra]].
* Asami putting aside her grudge with Varrick for the good of the world, but not before warning Varrick pretty well what would happen should he try anything.
** Note that she does this by twisting his wrist to make sure he's listening while she talks.
** A small one for Asami as well when she and Varrick are called the brightest minds in all of Republic City.
* Korra finally facing her fears by confronting Zaheer, and unlocking the last obstacle holding her back; herself.
** Korra also calls Zaheer out on how ''his'' actions ultimately allowed Kuvira to come to power.
** Zaheer agreeing to help Korra by guiding her into the Spirit World. He flat-out admits he spends most of his time in the Spirit World while his body floats in mid-air, showing he's still got the chops he had when he faced Korra (if not more), and that even imprisoned, he remains unbound. And in spite of all that, he helps her, because he's [[WellIntentionedExtremist still loyal to the cause of freedom]], and the situation with Kuvira is directly opposed to his beliefs. Like him or not, you have to respect him.
*** Even though they're on opposing sides. Zaheer was like a mentor to Korra.
*** ''And'' while it is not shown onscreen, Zaheer watches over Korra's body while she rescues the people captured by the vines. After all the enmity between them, that means a lot.
** Korra ''finally'' manages to reconnect with Raava (who seems quite glad to be in contact with her again as well), and frees the people trapped in the spirit vines/The Spirit World. ShesBack!
* While certainly harsh, Opal's verbal beatdown to Bolin's attempt to make amends did an awesome job both in animation and voice acting to display just how hurt Opal was by Bolin not listening to her, and how after all that has happened a "sorry" is not going to be enough to fix things quickly. Its also the best showcase so far of how for all her sweetness Opal still has the inner fire and snarkiness of her mother, aunt and grandmother.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Operation Beifong]]
* Varrick and Asami refusing to build another spirit weapon for Raiko, and Korra reiterating the fact that it would be a ''very bad idea''.
* Credit where credit is due: with the spirit energy supercannon on the verge of self-destruction, Baatar Jr. ignores Zhu Li's call for evacuation, heads straight for the internal wiring and shuts it down. Like the man or not, you have to admit that that [[VillainousValor takes guts]].
* Zhu Li's defiance of Kuvira. Zhu Li has been shown as a subservient, sometimes meek, and always truly excellent employee. Kuvira is one of the scariest people walking the earth, striking terror into the hearts of almost every powerful person in the world. Kuvira chastises Zhu Li, and Zhu Li looks her right in the eye and says:
-->'''Zhu Li:''' You're a monster. I regret nothing.
** Hell, Zhu Li staying that close to a megalomaniacal tyrant all this time and sabotaging the superweapon at every chance she got '''and willing to blow herself up''' along with Kuvira shows that Varrick's unassuming little assistant has giant brass ones.
*** She gets high praise from Bolin earlier in the episode, when he says that "Zhu Li doesn't make mistakes". This sounds like she was playing Kuvira from the very start, instead of truly deciding to follow her and then having a change of heart.
* Toph, Bolin, and Lin saving the Beifong family from their prison.
** Followed by three generations of the Beifong family fighting side-by-side, including Toph!
* The Beifongs knocking the spirit-cannon off-course at just the right moment. It barely misses Opal, Bolin and Zhu Li, blasting a hole through a mountain behind them.
* A small one, but Prince Wu actually offers a good idea by suggesting to evacuate the citizens of Republic City in case Kuvira attacks. Even if it was just to impress Korra.
* Suyin and Kuvira's fight. An incredibly well-choreographed fight between two expert Metalbenders. Suyin even metalbends an impromptu suit of armor, which is a perfect homage to her mother doing the same in the first series!
* Suyin, Lin, and the twins seem to be surrounded, but all of a sudden, an earth wave rolls through and knocks over a few dozen soldiers and some mecha tanks, then burries the nearside of cannon almost to the top. All done by Toph, who buys them enough time to escape. She violently moves the earth around her family for a good stretch in all directions, but the exact center circle containing her loved ones remains completely still and totally untouched. Even her family is ''shocked'' by her display of power and skill, with Lin's expression reflecting outright ''disbelief''.
** And to top it off, in one of the most satisfying moments of this Book, seeing as how Kuvira always seems to be on top of everything, she finally gets told off by the greatest Earthbender in the world:
-->'''Toph:''' You give Metalbenders a bad name!
** Even more awesome, Kuvira doesn't do anything. She chooses to let them escape rather than even ''think'' of tangling with Toph Beifong. Her expression toward Toph is one of restrained defeat.
** And Toph admits afterwards that she's gotten weaker with age and actually blew her back out with that move, yet was still able to tell off Kuvira without giving any sign of it.
* Kuvira again shows why she is such a major threat and an awesome villain. She was immediately suspicious of Zhu Li when she heard about the first malfunction and then caught her red handed seconds after the second. Kuvira then fights and beats Suyin in an epic fight with no outside help or interference. Finally Toph shows up takes out Kuvira's forces and calls her out but Kuvira doesn't even flinch. Kuvira may be the BigBad of the season but she is clearly a BadAss
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kuvira's Gambit]]
* Kuvira blows the Krew's plans and the audience's expectations completely out of the water by fielding her Spirit Energy Super Cannon... ON A GIANT MECHA.
* Wu giving a RousingSpeech to the citizens of Republic City about how they have to evacuate in an orderly fashion, calming them down after Mako's emotionless announcement started a bit of a panic. Lin even says he might make a good king after all.
* Korra, Tenzin, and Bumi stealthily kidnapping Baatar Jr. They're so successful at it that the [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy guards]] don't even ''notice'' until they get to Raiko!
** Raiko afterwards completely taking control of the situation and ordering Kuvira's own soldiers around.
* Zhu Li's defection may have been fake, but she was ''completely'' serious about being ''done'' with Varrick's treatment of her, and insists they'll work as equals from now on.
* When Korra sees physical threats won't work on Baatar Jr., and Su's appeal fails, she decides to psychologically beat him down instead, [[AdultFear with the fear he will NEVER be able to see his love Kuvira again]]. It works flawlessly, until Kuvira decides to blast them all.
* It may also be a heaping helping of NightmareFuel, but Kuvira's Colossus is truly a marvel of engineering to be able to operate under it's own weight and seemingly being controlled with NOTHING but Metalbending (save for features like walking or reloading, which appear to be performed automatically.) If the rest of the series was a means of showing the Avatar world has advanced technologically since AvatarTheLastAirbender, then ''this'' is the cherry on the sundae.
* After seeing Kuvira use her Colossus to wipe out his naval fleet, General Iroh radios the president, not to ask for orders or if he should retreat, but to request permission to engage. Even though they are vastly outgunned, he doesn't want to submit his city without giving everything he has to protect it.
** On that note, Raiko - the man who had been all for launching a pre-emptive strike against a militarily superior opponent last episode - [[KnowWhenToFoldThem surrenders the Republic]] and probably saves hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
* On a smaller note, the United Forces troops never break down and run, even when the cannon is aimed right at them. Some of them don't even ''flinch.''
* Even though Korra was able to eventually break his resolve, Bataar Jr. handles the early parts of his interrogation extremely well. When Korra goes into the Avatar State and physically hoists the chair he's tied to above her head one-handed, Bataar merely smirks and calls her bluff, saying he knows it's just an empty threat, which is enough to get Korra to back down. But even after ''that'', he still refuses Su's attempt at a reconciliation by coldly announcing Kuvira is the only family he has now. Heartless? Yes. But it also shows that Bataar Jr. still has the Beifong spirit, however twisted it might have become.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Day of the Colossus]]
* The first thing we see? Bolin bending a giant wall Superman style to get the survivors out.
* The entire attack on the Colossus, even if it takes several tries. Bolin sinks one of its feet in a lava pit, Wei and Wing tie up its legs with metal cables similarily to [[Franchise/StarWars destroying an AT-AT]], Korra and all the airbenders try to blow it over, Bolin joins the earthbending Beifongs in toppling a building on it, and finally Korra uses an entire river to trap it. It's really just an awesome sequence, even if none of the attacks take it down.
** Meelo's idea of using balloons filled with paint to blind the Colossus. It didn't work, but it was still clever thinking on his part.
* Varick does the EMP thing again. This time, he hits several blocks, and whole platoons of mecha-troopers collapse into heaps.
* Prince Wu's idea of using badgermoles from the Republic City zoo to get the people out, using his singing to get the Original Earthbenders to help.
** When a trio of mechas arrives in the tunnel, Prince Wu seemingly surrenders to protect the people, and asks that his last request before being taken away is to sing a little more. It turns out that he was simultaneously distracting the guards while [[TheBeastmaster instructing the badgermoles to attack them.]] He's [[TookALevelInBadass become dangerous]]!
* Varrick proposing to Zhu Li.
* [[spoiler:Hiroshi's]] [[HeroicSacrifice letting himself be killed]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath if it means making an opening for the others.]]
* Ikki saves Jinora while Meelo saves Tenzin while they're falling to a sure death after getting the backlash from one of Kuvira's spirit blasts. Bonus points for Meelo doing in surprisingly a mature way (ie. he didn't fartbend).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Last Stand]]
* Korra's fight with Kuvira using liquified meteorites and the metal in the control room. It's a big step up from her poor showing back in "The Battle of Zaofu".
** Particularly impressive is the fact that Korra doesn't even need to go into the Avatar State to more than hold her own this time.
** It's also impressive since the liquified meteorites resemble the mercury poison the Red Lotus used on her. Rather than suffering another PTSD flashback, Korra deflects them effortlessly. It shows how far she's come since the beginning of the season.
* Lin and Su metalbending basically every important thing in the cannon arm. Kuvira has to rip the entire limb off to stop them.
* Bolin borrows Ghazan's lava shuriken move, using it to take out a mook by cutting the steam vent behind him then finishing with a shoulder check.
* When their plan to shut down the reactor fails, Mako stays behind to lightningbend into the core until it explodes. He channels so much lightning that his sleeve bursts and he burns his entire forearm, but he blew it up. When he goes quiet for a second before declaring his intent, you can almost literally feel his dedication to people he loves.
** You really have to give Mako credit when you remember that he had to simultaneously direct the lightning away from his heart while it flowed through his body (remember [[spoiler:Ming-Hua]]?). Added to all the other factors, when you realize just how close Mako came to dying this time...
* Korra energybending the spirit vine cannon blast when it's powered by the entire Spirit Wilds, ripping a hole in reality and creating a new spirit portal.
** You read that right: Korra. ''Tanks''. The Spirit Vine Cannon. [[SaveTheVillain While protecting Kuvira]], [[WhatYouAreInTheDark when no one would have blamed Korra for letting her die.]]
* Korra talks Kuvira down in the Spirit World, not by using her bending skills, [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath but with compassion]], leading to Kuvira's HeelRealization, after which Kuvira surrenders. Korra's come a long way from the hotheaded and brash Avatar she used to be.
** Korra also points out to Kuvira that they're NotSoDifferent in a well-done way.
* After the surrender, fans were likely wondering if [[EasilyForgiven Su would forgive Kuvira]], given her insistence that everyone deserves a chance to atone for their mistakes and we just saw her eagerly accept her son back after his HeelRealization. Instead, she coldly says "You're going to answer for everything." For all she's said before, Su knows when someone has good and well crossed a line that can't be uncrossed.
* Bolin finally using Varrick's catch phrase for all the right reasons.
* Zhu Li dipping Varrick at their wedding. And despite being surprised, Varrick is perfectly fine with it.
* Subtler, but Prince Wu voluntarily abdicating the throne to give the Earth Kingdom states sovereignty and appointed leadership. The guy has [[CharacterDevelopment come]] a long, ''long'' way from when we first saw him.
* An understated one for Kuvira at the end; the Colossus is wrecked, her army is in shambles, Kuvira herself is hurt from the destruction of the Colossus and fleeing through the Spirit Wilds pursued by Korra. When Korra shouts at her that it's over and she needs to surrender, Kuvira's only response is a quiet, determined "Never." That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about her in one word.
* After having the world ''constantly'' crap on her for four seasons, how does Asami Sato round things off? [[spoiler: By getting the girl. Specifically, ''Avatar Korra herself.'']] Not bad at all.
[[/folder]]

!!Video game
[[folder:Video game]]
* Though the game has its share of flaws, the final boss fight with [[BigBad Hundun]] is wall-to-wall awesome. To elaborate, Korra has unlocked the Avatar State and thoroughly trashed Hundun's army. With nowhere to hide and out of tricks, Hundun decides to make his LastVillainStand and fight Korra one-on-one. He then goes OneWingedAngel and [[spoiler:reveals his conjoined twin brother]]. The two then face off in a grand final battle with Hundun showing that [[BadassGrandpa age is no deterrent for badassery]] as he tosses everything he's got at Korra, which includes [[RubberMan stretchy limbs]], [[CastingAShadow dark powers]], [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts]], and [[DishingOutDirt Earthbending]]. And Korra showing she can tank everything Hundun's got and toss it right back. Then comes the climax of the fight, with Hundun knocking Korra into the air where she goes into the Avatar State. Proceed to cheer like a schoolgirl as you use the Avatar State to tear Hundun a second asshole. Korra's BadassBoast during this is the icing on the cake.
-->'''Korra:''' Your powers have grown strong over a thousand years, while my powers have been growing strong since time began.
** In fact, pretty much any time you use the Avatar State. You get to throw around giant elemental bursts that can bowl over a mecha tank, and the power attack is a screen-clearing elemental explosion.
** The ''introduction'' of the Avatar State. You're being swarmed by Dark Spirits... cue Jinora explaining some spiritual mumbo jumbo about how all are one like she's [[StarWars Yoda]] or an [[MassEffect asari]]. The spirits steadily fade (regardless of how well you're doing) until it's just Korra. Cue cutscene of Korra entering the avatar state. Cue gameplay where you are shown a huge army showing up to engage you, including an army of Triple Threat Triads, Equalists, Dark Spirits, and three Mecha Tanks. [[CurbstompBattle Curbstomp.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Battle.]] [[Awesome/TheLegendOfKorra Ensues.]]
** And during the aforementioned CurbStompBattle, you get to hear a lovely backdrop of Hundun [[ThisCannotBe freaking]] [[VillainousBreakdown out]] as Korra rips his army to shreds like confetti. Just having Korra wipe that smug grin off his face is a CatharsisFactor in an of itself.
* Korra in general throughout the whole video game. At the outset of the game, Hundun has the Equalists block her bending with special blowdarts. [[BroughtDownToBadass Korra quickly shows them that she can kick ass just as well without her powers.]] Watching her plow through enemies with nothing but her bare hands and her CharlesAtlasSuperpower as she regains her bending is nothing short of satisfying.
* Regaining each element is done in a way that ties in. Water is the most gamey, but it at least makes some sense (collecting spirit water that Tenzin had around Air Temple Island). Earthbending is done by [[NervesOfSteel holding your ground against a]] [[Main/HumongousMecha Mecha Tank]]. With ''[[MakingASplash waterbending.]]'' Airbending is done by [[MemeticMutation being the motherfuckin' leaf]] as the Equalists are hurling lots of ranged attacks at you and dodging them. The odd one out is Firebending, which is done by [[TeachHimAnger Korra tapping into her aggression]] when a bunch of Equalists show up at the South Pole. Which is still fun since it basically means "beat the crap out of limitless Equalists".
[[/folder]]

!!Meta

[[folder:Meta]]
* Getting ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Marie_Saint Eva Marie Saint]]'' to play Katara. That's when you know the last series got them respect in Hollywood. The woman has worked with Alfred Hitchcock, appeared in films with Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Angela Lansbury, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, won an Academy Award (for best supporting actress in ''On The Waterfront'') and they convinced her to do a voice.
* Mike and Bryan taking the time to make a complete set of rules for pro-bending that make perfect sense. No {{Golden Snitch}}es here!
* [[http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150566153/airbender-creators-reclaim-their-world-in-korra This bit]] from NPR.
--> "Some Nickelodeon executives were worried, says Konietzko, about backing an animated action show with a female lead character. Conventional TV wisdom has it that girls will watch shows about boys, but [[GirlShowGhetto boys won't watch shows about girls]].
--> During test screenings, though, boys said they didn't care that Korra was a girl. They just said she was awesome.
* The television debut garnered a whopping '''''4.5 million viewers'''''. That's the highest number of viewership for a Nickelodeon show in three years. Note that this was after releasing the first two episodes online, ''for free'', several weeks prior.
** And the numbers ''keep going strong'' with every debut. Episode four received a premature leak online, and fans ''still'' tuned in and gave the ratings a good 4 million viewers to count on its Saturday morning premiere.
* The ''animation alone'' is this! Look at the snow fall in "The Spirit of Competition" and tell me that the animation isn't among some of the most beautiful you've seen.
** The scenes in the last third of "And The Winner Is..." when Lin and Korra take on the Equalists (partially in ''mid-air'') are among the most amazing and smoothly animated fight-scenes seen in [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra both]] [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender series]] and possibly all of WesternAnimation.
** Then comes Tarlokk's awesome waterbending in "When Extremes Meet", it's like a seamless integration of a liquid deflector shield and a machine gun of ice.
* The level of animation quality and the artistic effects in this series is mind boggling and only becomes apparent by re-watching it over and over. WordOfGod has stated at some points in production the bar was so high it looked like they could never achieve it.
* The new opening sequence dramatically contrasts the first series, showcasing the power and the skill of the Avatars.
** Avatar Kyoshi rips up massive slabs of earth from the ground and flings them with a terrifying fury (if this doesn't look too impressive next to the earthbenders in this series, remember that Kyoshi was doing this about ''450 years ago'')
** Avatar Roku's movements are pure serenity, sweeping and throwing unpredictable gouts of flames that could probably stand up to a comet-powered firebender, his patterns moving like a phoenix (at one point he fires a massive bolt with his ''fingers'')
** Avatar Aang moves from one ridiculous pose to another, balancing and pivoting on one finger, airbending with his feet, all the while maintaining perfect poise and precision, showing that airbenders can be free while still having complete control over their skills
* There's also the fact that Amon managed to achieve MagnificentBastard status in record time... SIX EPISODES! Technically only three as he's only had major appearances in three. At this rate he just might steal Azula's status as the greatest MagnificentBastard in WesternAnimation since [[TropeNamer you-know-who.]]
** Come episode eight and it looks like he's going to spend the rest of the series competing fiercely with Tarrlok for that particular title. To elaborate, Tarrlok needed three episodes to establish himself as a ManipulativeBastard wielding FantasticRacism, but it took ''just those last five minutes where he fought Korra'' to put him right up there with Amon.
*** And then in the ''next'' episode, Amon decided not to take that shit and promptly took away Tarrlok's bending before driving him away in a van. Amon is awesome.
** The ultimate success with Amon is that in the end there's no MotiveRant, there's no explanation. Evidence is presented that leaves the audience wondering whether Amon's motives are pure or not in such a way that there's no clear answer. And it works!
* Congratulations should go out to the team behind the series for being so ballsy as to pitch such dark tones. Not only did we have scenes that reflected elements of public executions and rape, we also had an '''actual''' terrorist attack in episode 6. Somehow Nick let this slide and aired the episode nonetheless. The creators are really bold for giving us such a strong and dark series.
** We can now throw in the numerous allusions to historic examples of oppression: the RedScare with [=McCarthy=]-like tactics, the internment camps for Japanese during WorldWarII, and Hitler's subjugation of the Jews.
** If the previews are anything to go by, benders in Republic City will now be lined up and systemically de-powered by Amon. It's so close to the gas chambers of the Holocaust it's downright terrifying.
*** Not to mention the summary executions of "Enemies of the People" carried out following the Communist revolutions in China and Russia.
** And the season one finale has a completely straight-faced, not ambiguous in the slightest murder-suicide. At this point, one wonders if the show has any network oversight at all.
*** You know a show's ballsy, when it pitches dark tones that not even adult shows like ''FamilyGuy'' dare to take on.
*** General Iroh blows up a biplane in mid-air, quickly enough that the pilot had no chance to escape.
*** R.I.P. the Radar: beginning of the Hays Code to 6/23/2012.
* [[http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/25026086135/here-is-the-final-press-art-i-did-for-the-upcoming The final press art for the season 1 finale by Bryan.]]
* At the end of "Turning The Tide", the commander of the United forces is voiced by Creator/DanteBasco. And is name is ''General Iroh''.
** We all saw it coming, but the entire execution of the reveal. There's a shot of the front of the ship that slowly backs up to show the back of one man who's clearly in command. A man comes up from offscreen and the shot shifts to the front, but most of his face is still obscured. The man mentions that there's a wire from the Avatar that Republic City has been taken. Then the music amps up and his face is finally revealed. He's got Zuko's eyes, and he turns to the man and says "Tell her we will be arriving in three day's time, and that I look forward to winning back Republic City together" in Zuko's voice.
*** For German fans the fact that they gave Korra!Iroh the same voice as Aang!Zuko as well. In Germany when dubbing animation, it is usally cast by what fits the character as voice actors don't have fixed dub voices (unlike actors). Somebody paid REALLY close attention here.
* [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome The MUSIC]]. Capturing every mood of the moment. The Avatar Theme playing out in full force in the finale was Epic.
* The subversion of the BittersweetEnding. Nobody expected them to actually give Lin her bending back or let Korra go Avatar State. We already had a bittersweet ending that worked perfectly, but they managed to completely blindside us with a genuinely happy ending.
* The fact that [=LoK=] has gathered '''two more Books'''. Considering how this was originally introduced as a miniseries, that's pretty impressive!
** Thats in addition to the second Book it got ''before even airing''.
* Aang's last line in the series. It takes a bit of Fridge to understand the awesomeness behind it; it was at around this point that Aang himself went through great conflict when he was tasked with stopping Ozai. What he says to Korra directly correlates to what ''he went through'' in the final hours of his own series. Katara smiling while Korra restored Lin's bending just seals it; Katara was the sole person not amazed by the act, but rather seemed to have been expecting it.
* Janet Varney posted a challenge where the Book Two finale would be released online a week early if enough people reblogged her Tumblr post asking them how much they really wanted it. The conditions were that [[ArcNumber ten thousand]] people had to reblog the post in 12 hours. It easily got ''twenty thousand'' notes. And Nick followed through on their promise, with the finale released mere hours after the episodes preceding it had aired on television.
** In a sort of followup to this, Korra Nation offered a [[http://korranation.tumblr.com/post/97576866809/hey-korra-nation-big-news-if-this similar challenge]]: 15,000 notes for a preview clip of Book 4 the next day. It took an hour, and the clip was posted not long after.
* While YMMV on whether it is a good move for the series or not, it takes a lot of balls to tear down and do away with one of the largest core elements (The Avatar Cycle, and thus no more cameos or help from past avatar characters like Aang, Roku or Kyoshi) of a very popular series, especially since the third season has confirmed that it's stuck.
* If you thought that the grisly and dark combat sequences in Book 1 were awesome enough, how about the fact that they were able to get away with the Earth Queen being ''suffocated by airbending'' in "Long Live the Queen"?
** P'li later ''[[YourHeadAsplode blew up her own head]]'' (though with another GoryDiscretionShot) in "Enter the Void".
** You know what ''didn't'' have a GoryDiscretionShot? Mako killing Ming-Hua via electrocution. So much for BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork.
* The third season finale, "Venom of the Red Lotus", is the 100th episode of the ''Avatar'' series, and while other Nickelodeon shows have hit that milestone before, they've only been the two-15-minute-episodes variety (Rugrats, Fairly Oddparents, and Spongebob come to mind first). ''Avatar'' is a serialized action-adventure epic, not the usual fare for the First Kid's Network, and certainly not something you'd expect to get a solid hundred episodes, with 13 more still yet to come!
** The fight sequence in the finale was also the best one since, well, the finale in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', with all the characters kicking ass in their highest forms. In the extras for the episode, the director refers to it as the biggest action scene in the history of western television.
* At the end of Book Three and throughout Book Four, the highly realistic depiction of [[spoiler:Korra's [[ShellShockedVeteran debilitating mental and physical trauma]]]], a rarity in animated works and, indeed, media in general.
* Despite having been royally screwed over by the higher-ups with an episode's worth of budget cut, Bryke and their team still managed to make the best of the situation with RecapEpisode "Remembrances.
* This [[http://element-of-change.tumblr.com/post/104288589969/irisflower101-team-avatar-doing-team-avatar-in fanart]] featuring the modern-day version of The New Team Avatar or the Krew.
* The Most Reblogged TV: Animated Tumblr blog of 2014? [[http://yearinreview.tumblr.com/post/104933801007/most-reblogged-tv-animated The Legend of Korra]]. Nickelodeon's precious Spongebob Squarepants is in ''6th'' place.
** In ''third'' place? AvatarTheLastAirbender!
* [[http://korratea.tumblr.com/post/106539848714/niuner-hello-tumblr-im-still-alive-heres-a Team Avatar driving a cool car.]]
* [[http://waterbendingelite.tumblr.com/post/106554511169/screw-writing-strong-women-write-interesting Screw writing "strong women":]] Korra version.
[[/folder]]

** This may have been against the initial wishes of Nickelodeon, given Nick's S&P forbids overt same-sex relationships in their shows, and the fear that Nick might {{retcon}} the Korrasami ending to "just friends" in subsequent comics was quickly quelled when major news sources like VanityFair and others remarked on how progressive and amazing the move was - thus ensuring that Nick [[TemptingFate wouldn't dare]] back away from the ending for fear of [[UnfortunateImplications the horrendously bad press such a move would cause]]. [[MagnificentBastard Mike & Bryan]] [[BatmanGambit were likely counting on just such an outcome]].

* Suyin, Lin, and the twins seem to be surrounded, but all of a sudden, an earth wave rolls through and knocks over a few dozen soldiers and some mecha tanks. All done by Toph, who buys them enough time to escape. She violently moves the earth around her family for a good stretch in all directions, but the exact center circle containing her loved ones remains completely still and totally untouched.