History Recap / TheLegendOfKorraS1E12Endgame

* VillainousBreakdown: After Korra manages to airbend after Amon had already debend her he is left completely shocked, for the first time in the series without a plan. This only gets worse after Korra sends him flying into the ocean and he inadvertently reveals himself to be a waterbender to his Equalists completely undoing all off his work in a single stroke.

* DrivenToSuicide: Tarrlok uses one of the Equalist shock gloves aboard Amon's escape boat to blow up the fuel tank [[MurderSuicide killing himself and his brother]].

* RelationshipUpgrade: Mako and Korra. [[MemeticMutation While it's really unclear]], shippers may assume that the Masami goodbye kiss in "Skeletons in the Closet" was also their breakup kiss.

* TheyDo: Mako and Korra. [[MemeticMutation While it's really unclear]], shippers may assume that the Masami goodbye kiss in "Skeletons in the Closet" was also their breakup kiss.

* InspirationalMartyr: Subverted. After Amon is defeated by Korra and knocked into the bay where he seemingly drowns, his followers who saw it become enraged, with the implications that the revolution [[YouCantKillAnIdea would continue even without him]]. But then Amon uses his waterbending in an over-the-top way to return to the surface, exposing his secret to his followers and causing the entire revolution to fall apart.

* InspirationalMartyr: Subverted. After Amon is defeated by Korra and knocked into the bay where he seemingly drowns, his followers who saw it become enraged, with the implications that the revolution would continue even without him. But then Amon uses his waterbending in an over-the-top way to return to the surface, exposing his secret to his followers and causing the entire revolution to fall apart.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Tarrlok. He's also the first known character to [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide]].

* NeverTrustATrailer: The preview for the finale actually edited one of Amon's lines to make it appear he had some way of ridding the world of all bending in one evening. He was actually just talking about airbending.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[ImpliedTrope A subtle example.]] When Korra runs away to be alone at the end of the episode, there's a shot of her looking down an enormous ice cliff to the ground below. Given that she's just been told that she'll never regain her fire-, earth- or water-bending -- and that Aang tells her that she's reached her "lowest point" -- it's generally assumed that Korra was contemplating suicide in order to restart the Avatar cycle and bring about a new Avatar with access to all of their bending abilities.

* CameBackStrong: Korra loses her bending to Amon, but as a result gains airbending and the spiritual connection she had been lacking. The latter allows Aang to restore her bending and gives her access to the Avatar state, ultimately making her a far stronger Avatar than she had ever been before.

* AdultFear: At some point Tenzin and his family were captured and he is chained up with his three oldest children while a crowd of bloodthirsty Equalists cheer Amon's attempted debending of them. And to add to that his wife and newborn son are also held captive somewhere else.

->''When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.''

* DiabolusExMachina: Tenzin and the kids being captured by Amon at some point off-screen.

* KarmicDeath: For Amon at the end of the episode, who dies after his debend brother blows up their getaway boat with one of the Equalist shock gloves.

* IHaveNoDaughter: Hiroshi doesn't say it directly, but considering in his warped mind, that Asami won't join in his insane crusade to destroy the benders, he figures she doesn't have the right to be his daughter.

* HeroicSacrifice: [ImpliedTrope A subtle example]. When Korra runs away to be alone at the end of the episode, there's a shot of her looking down an enormous ice cliff to the ground below. Given that she's just been told that she'll never regain her fire-, earth- or water-bending -- and that Aang tells her that she's reached her "lowest point" -- it's generally assumed that Korra was contemplating suicide in order to restart the Avatar cycle and bring about a new Avatar with access to all of their bending abilities.

* HeroicSacrifice: A subtle example. When Korra runs away to be alone at the end of the episode, there's a shot of her looking down an enormous ice cliff to the ground below. Given that she's just been told that she'll never regain her fire-, earth- or water-bending -- and that Aang tells her that she's reached her "lowest point" -- it's generally assumed that Korra was contemplating suicide in order to restart the Avatar cycle and bring about a new Avatar with access to all of their bending abilities.