History Recap / TheLegendOfKorraS3E11TheUltimatum

* CallBack: Korra recalls how she found Zaheer in the Spirit World in "The Stakeout", and believes he might be there again.

* ContinuityNod:
** The baby air bison are mentioned again, and one flys off with Kai after the attack to get Korra.

* CutenessProximity / BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Meelo quickly distracts Bolin from the urgency of the radio call by mentioning that they discovered a herd of sky bison with babies.

* HostageSituation: The Red Lotus threaten to wipe out the new Air Nation to get Korra to surrender herself.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Thought Ming-Hua could only manage ''two'' [[CombatTentacles water whips]] at a time? [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Nope]]; that's just all she usually ''needs''.

* PragmaticVillainy: The reason Zaheer decides to hold the airbenders hostage; he's tired of chasing Korra and wants to make her come to ''him''.

* TheBusCameBack: Iroh makes another appearance in the Spirit World, and gives Korra some more advice.
* TookALevelInBadass: The

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The Airbenders' escape attempt is thwarted when P'Li scares off the bisons, Kya and Bumi are injured after falling off a cliff, and Tenzin is last seen being beaten within an inch of his life. The only one to escape is Kai.

* WatchingTroyBurn: Mako, Bolin, and their family as they leave Ba Sing Se via airship. This time, the damage done is ''much'' worse than when the Fire Nation took over.

* WorthyOpponent: The look Zaheer gives Tenzin after Tenzin declares [[DefiantToTheEnd that as long as he's still breathing it's not over]] implies Zaheer thinks of him as this

While Ba Sing Se erupts in chaos, Mako and Bolin commandeer an airship and set course for the Si Wong Desert to find Korra and Asami to deliver Zaheer's [[TitleDrop ultimatum]]. While flying over the Lower Ring, they stop to take their family with them, saving them from the flames that are consuming the city. They eventually track their friends down to the Misty Palms Oasis, where they reunite and relay Zaheer's message: Korra in exchange for the survival of the Air Nation. In an attempt to warn Tenzin of the Red Lotus' approach of the Northern Air Temple, Team Avatar heads back to Zaofu to use their radio transmitter and prepare for takeoff toward the temple. The warning comes too late, however, and the Red Lotus manages to capture all the temple's inhabitants. Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi try to fight off Zaheer, Ming-Hua, and Ghazan respectively, but are eventually overpowered. Although Kai nearly sacrifices himself to help the airbenders reach the bison stables and escape, P'Li manages to corner them all.

Mako and Bolin have to deliver Zaheer's message to Korra: turn herself in or the Red Lotus will wipe out the new Air Nation.

* ShoutOut: The scene when Ming-Hua rises up with mutiple water limbs just screams "Doc Ock".

* DownerEnding: The Airbenders' escape attempt is thwarted when P'Li scares off the bisons, Kya and Bumi are injured after falling off a cliff, and Tenzin is last seen being beaten within an inch of his life. The only one to escape is Kai.

* [[spoiler:BolivianArmyEnding: Tenzin states he'll fight to his last breath. The Red Lotus are holding him to his word as the camera pans behind a wall.]]

* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome: If Tenzin dies this episode, he'll have gone down fighting the entire Red Lotus after defeating Zaheer one on one.]]

HopeSpot: For a moment it looks like Kya has beaten Ming-Hua by throwing her off a cliff, but one almost immediately notices the water Kya hit her with is suddenly moving in a very unnatural way...

* ShipTease: Mako and Korra running to hug each other.

* FightsLikeANormal: Bumi apparently hasn't learned how to actually attack with airbender, so when he fights Ghazan he just uses it to move around better then tries to grapple him.

* HeroicSacrifice: When the airbenders are pinned down by P'Li, Kai takes off on a glider to draw her fire so everyone else can get to safety on the sky bison. He ended up getting shot down, but survived, and P'Li's shots scared the bison off anyway.

** Kya's reaction to Ming-Hua's MultiArmedAndDangerous. Her "no" sounds like she has just come to the conclusion she is fighting a monster of a waterbender who she has no chance of beating on her own, who wasn't even fighting seriously until she pulled out this move.

* KarmicJackpot: Downplayed. The only reason Kai escapes was that he was shot down while trying to buy time for the other airbenders.

* WatchingTroyBurn: Mako, Bolin, and their family as they leave Ba Sing Se via airship.

* HeroicSacrifice: When the airbenders are pinned down by P'Li, Kai takes off on a glider to draw her fire so everyone else can get to safety on the sky bison. He ended up getting shot down, but survived, and P'Li's shots ended up scaring the bison off anyway.