Krew: Wanted Dead or Alive
After tracking Aiwei to the Misty Palms Oasis, the Krew split up searching for clues. Korra and Asami stay at Aiwei's jeep and find a note telling him to meet Zaheer at sundown in a place called Xai Bau's Grove. Meanwhile, Mako and Bolin find out that Aiwei is staying in the Misty Palms Inn. After reconvening, Team Avatar proceeds to stake out Aiwei's room so they can follow him to Zaheer. However as time draws closer to sundown, and Aiwei hasn't left yet, Korra goes into the truth seers room and sees that he is meditating. This leads Korra to realize that Xai Bau's Grove is in the Spirit World. Korra ventures into the Spirit World, where Zaheer distracts her by telling her about the origins of the Red Lotus and their goals. After being alerted by their leader, Ghazan and Ming-Hua travel to the Misty Palms Inn to capture Korra. While Asami escapes with Korra's unconscious body, Mako and Bolin hold off the two members of the Red Lotus, which eventually leads to their own capture. Although Asami manages to evade her pursuers, she and Korra are arrested by the Earth Queen's forces
NOTE: This episode was the first to released exclusively on Nick.com for online viewing on August 1, 2014.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Bolin gets creeped out by the older female fan who has No Sense of Personal Space.
- Affably Evil: Zaheer and Korra have a quite amiable conversation while in the spirit world. It trends into Faux Affably Evil given what he did to Aiwei directly before, and the fact that he was using the conversation as a distraction while her body was captured.
- Arc Welding: Unalaq was part of the Red Lotus, although he betrayed them after Zaheer's team was captured. Releasing Vaatu was also originally the Red Lotus's plan, though Unalaq merging with the spirit to become a Dark Avatar was his own idea, one that Zaheer seems to disapprove of.
- Astral Projection: Zaheer and Aiwei use this to meet in the spirit world, then Korra follows them when she finds Aiwei.
- Badass in Distress: Mako and Bolin are captured by the Red Lotus, while Asami and Korra are captured by the Earth Queen's forces.
- Bad Boss: Zaheer throws Aiwei in the Fog of Lost Souls for his failure to cover their tracks and failure during their attempted kidnapping of Korra. The same comradeship he has with inner circle doesn't extend to his lower ranked underlings.
- Batman Gambit: Attempted by Zaheer when he talks to Korra in the Spirit World while Ming-Hua and Ghazan capture her defenseless body. The Earth Queen's forces derail the plan by kidnapping Korra themselves when Asami tries to take her to safety.
- Behind the Black: Bolin fails to notice wanted posters for the rest of the Krew right next to his until Mako points them out and the camera pulls back.
- Best Out of Infinity: As he keeps losing to Asami at Pai Sho, Bolin keeps demanding a rematch with "Best out of..." and an constantly increasing number. After who knows how many games, Asami concedes he's about to win one, but Pabu scatters the tiles by running over the board.
- Bound and Gagged: Korra wakes up to find herself straitjacketed, muzzled, and strapped to a dolly to make sure she can't bend. Remind you of anything?
- Brick Joke: Early in the episode, Bolin thinks that a poster of him is a Nuktuk fan poster, when it's actually a Wanted Poster. Later, the gang are pursued by "bounty hunters"... who instead turn out to be Nuktuk fans wanting Bolin's autograph.
- Call-Back:
- Pai Sho returns, as does Bolin's role as Nuktuk.
- The Fog of Lost Souls appears once more, this time used by Zaheer to dispose of Aiwei.
- Zaheer mentions the tale of Avatar Wan, Raava and Vaatu. He also mentions Sozin's near-genocide of the airbenders, and indirectly mentions the White Lotus' crucial role in helping end the Hundred Year War.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Unalaq betrayed Zaheer and the others, leaving them to rot while he pursued his own goals. After this was revealed, one wonders why Zaheer and his gang never ratted Unalaq out and let him get away with his betrayal. Maybe because they knew that nobody would take their word over a respected Water Tribe Chief.
- Continuity Nod: The Misty Palms Oasis itself was last seen in "The Desert" in season 2 of the previous series. The ice in the center of town has grown since then. That appearance also involved a game of Pai Sho and the Order of the White Lotus.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Mako and Bolin do not fare very well against Ghazan and Ming-Hua, especially since Ghazan keeps turning Bolin's attacks against him. Mako isn't any better given he is fighting a master waterbender when the moon is up.
- Did Not Think This Through: Bolin tries hiding in the pool to dodge Ghazan's attacks, forgetting Ming-Hua can fish him right up.
- Downer Ending: The episode ends with all of Team Avatar captured, Korra and Asami by the Earth Queen's forces, Mako and Bolin by the Red Lotus.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After seeing Aiwei meditating on his bed, and remembering that the spirits were trying to tell them something, Korra realizes that Xai Bau's Grove is actually in the Spirit World.
- Evil Mentor: The Red Lotus's original plan was to kidnap the Avatar when she was young and indoctrinate her to their way of thinking. Judging by Zaheer's conversation he may still have hopes of doing that.
- Evil Overlord: Zaheer cites Fire Lord Sozin, Earth Queen Hou-Ting, and President Raiko as examples of corrupt or inept leaders who the world would've been better off without.
- Eye Am Watching You: Korra makes the gesture toward the whole bar of bounty hunters/Earth Queen sympathizers as the Krew exits it.
- Fallen Hero: According to Zaheer, Xai Bau was once a member of the White Lotus, but formed the Red Lotus as a splinter faction out of growing disgust and dissatisfaction with the direction the White Lotus was heading.
- Fanboy: Bolin runs into a pair of fans of his Nuktuk movers.
- Fate Worse than Death: Zaheer tosses Aiwei's soul into the Fog of Lost Souls.
- Gilligan Cut: After getting the room across from Aiwei's, the landlady at the Misty Palms Inn warns Mako that it might be to small for the entire Krew to fit in. He assures her it will be fine. Smash cut to the Krew, and their Team Pets, stuck in a cramped room they can barely move around in.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: The Earth Queen placed a bounty on Team Avatar's heads.
- Just Between You and Me: Zaheer tells Korra his plan while they're both in the spirit world, partly because he's trying to turn her and partly because it's a stalling tactic so the rest of the Red Lotus can capture her defenseless physical body.
- Kirk Summation: When Zaheer tries framing Korra's attempted kidnapping as raising the Avatar a new way under the training of expert masters, she retorts that their plan really only amounts to kidnapping and brainwashing a little kid.
- Lampshade Hanging: The game Pai Sho has been incredibly inconsistent in how it's portrayed in the series, which is revealed here to be due to different people using different rulesets.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: It's retroactively revealed that Unalaq's plan to kidnap a young Korra backfired spectacularly for both him and the Red Lotus. Zaheer and company's imprisonment was a massive blow to the secret society, derailing their plans to train the then-still-impressionable Korra and knocking their top members out of commission for over a decade. Korra being taken in by the White Lotus unwittingly protected her from Unalaq, forcing him to have to revamp his plans to re-open the Spirit Portals and free Vaatu.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Zaheer argues that Korra and the Red Lotus share the same goals, citing how she kept the portals open rather than separate the human and spirit worlds. While Korra agrees on that point, she draws the line at causing complete chaos.
- Opponent Switch: Suggested by Bolin to Mako while they're fighting Ghazan and Ming-Hua, respectively, but the brothers are overwhelmed soon after and don't get the chance.
- Order Versus Chaos: This is the dynamic between the Red Lotus and the White Lotus. The Red Lotus wants to eliminate the world's governments, believing people will never truly be free until there's no-one ruling over them. They see the White Lotus as traitors to their original cause by openly serving these governments, rather than existing apart as had been the case before the end of the Hundred Year War. The same episode features a nice analogy with Pai Sho, which depending on the region is considered either a fast-paced and exciting game or one about strategy and waiting for the proper time to make a move (and as presented, order beats chaos every time).
- Properly Paranoid: Zaheer accuses Aiwei of failing to cover his tracks, and isn't too surprised when he sees he was followed by Korra.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Bolin quickly finds out that stakeouts are not as fun and exciting as fiction would have you believe. There is a lot of staring out of windows and waiting around for something to happen for hours at a time.
- Since Pai Sho has been around for thousands of years there are many different interpretations of the rules based on the various regions and time periods the game has been played in. This results in Bolin and Asami having two completely different play styles.
- Red Herring: Zaheer makes Korra believe that the Red Lotus has captured her while they were talking. When Korra wakes up from the Spirit World, she is restrained Hannibal-style. When she asks Asami what happened, she reveals that they were captured by the Earth Queen instead.
- The Reveal:
- Zaheer and his group are members of a secret society called the Red Lotus, a Renegade Splinter Faction of the White Lotus, who believe that the latter group lost their way when they started openly serving the Avatar after the Hundred Year War.
- The Red Lotus are anarchists who believe that true freedom can only be achieved by the elimination of all world leaders.
- Unalaq was a member of the Red Lotus, and the attempted kidnapping of Korra when she was a child was his idea.
- Ridiculously Cute Critters: The Misty Palms Oasis appears to be peppered with random adorable spirits. Most of the residents treat them as pests.
- Shout-Out:
- Korra is Bound and Gagged in a manner similar to Hannibal Lecter.
- The way Bolin says "Pai-Showdown" is just like how they say it in Xiaolin Showdown.
- Mako and Bolin wearing yellow ponchos and goggles looks familiar.
- Something Person: Bolin refers to Ming-Hua and Ghazan as "Water-Arm Lady" and "Lava Guy".
- Spanner in the Works: The Earth Queen's army kidnaps Korra and Asami as they run from the Red Lotus.
- Tail Slap: When Naga finds out that Korra has no threat to reward her for successfully tracking Aiwei, Korra finds herself at the receiving end of a tail slap in the face.
- The Unreveal: So now that they can't raise Korra as a Tyke-Bomb, what is the Red Lotus' plan for her? Zaheer refuses to answer that, at least until he's sure she's in their custody.
- Villain Has a Point:
- Zaheer is right about the White Lotus essentially becoming glorified bodyguards, as it's the only thing they've done for the entire series. Korra also has to concede that both the Earth Queen and President Raiko only excel at proving his point about poor/corrupt governments, though she considers eliminating them entirely to be the opposite extreme.
- While his punishment of Aiwei pushed into Bad Boss territory, Zaheer was correct in his assertion that Aiwei had failed to cover his tracks.
- Villainous Rescue: The Earth Queen inadvertently saves Korra and Asami when her forces capture the two of them before the Red Lotus could.
- Villain Teleportation: Zaheer's spiritual mastery allows him to do this while in the spirit world, and he can pull others along with him.
- We Can Rule Together: Zaheer believes Korra shares the Red Lotus's goals, citing her keeping the spirit portals open as they planned to. Korra, however, thinks wiping out every government on the planet is too much.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Zaheer claims that the Red Lotus's goal is to restore balance to the world, just like the Avatar, but they want to go even further and destroy the governments of the nations completely, believing that it's the only way for true freedom to be accomplished. They also intended to release Vaatu, though becoming the Dark Avatar and taking over the world was Unalaq's idea.
- Wham Episode: Not only is the Red Lotus' history revealed, but so is part of their plot, as well as Unalaq's membership. On top of that, Korra and Asami are captured by the Earth Queen, while Bolin and Mako are going to be used as bargaining chips by Zaheer, who plots to move for Ba Sing Se...
- Wham Line: In response to Korra asking about why they tried kidnapping her when she was little.Zaheer: That was Unalaq's idea.
- You Have Failed Me: Zaheer pitches Aiwei's spirit into the Fog of Lost Souls since he failed to help the Red Lotus capture Korra and was outed as a mole afterward.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Mako and Bolin hold off Ghazan and Ming-Hua while Asami runs with Korra's body.
