She has an offer they can't refuse.
The Book 4 premiere.
A lot has changed in three years. In that time Asami has modernized her father's company, Mako is a bodyguard to Prince Wu, and a new villain begins her ascension.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: When Prince Wu tries to use Future Industries' new rail system to hit on Asami, she snarks that she would love to send him far away.
- Actually, I Am Him: Subverted. The owner of the fighting ring seems to recognize Korra, but she denies being the Avatar.Promoter: Y'know, you look very familiar. Yeah! You look kinda like that Avatar girl.
Korra: [irritably] I get that a lot.
Promoter: Whatever happened to her anyway?
Korra: I wouldn't know. - Badass Normal: The bandit who steals the supplies off Lefty's back holds his own surprisingly well against airbenders Kai and Opal.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Korra comes out of her fight with scrapes and a black eye.
- Black Comedy: Prince Wu does a brief impression of Hou-Ting suffocating to death, then quickly adds "May she rest in peace" with a respectful bow.
- Black Sheep: Something happened three years ago that estranged Suyin's eldest son, Baatar Jr., from the rest of the family. Opal is cold toward him when they run into each other.
- A Bloody Mess: Prince Wu thinks he's bleeding after a pie-based attack by some Kuvira supporters. Mako tells him it's just strawberry pie.
- Blood Sport: Korra vanished six months ago and is competing in an underground earthbending fighting ring (with the same logo as Earth Rumble from the previous series) while hiding her identity.
- Broken Bird: Korra essentially ran away from home and is currently getting beaten up in underground fighting rings while hiding her true identity. She's visibly depressed over the trauma she suffered in her final confrontation with the Red Lotus.
- Cadre of Foreign Bodyguards: Wu wants Mako to be this for him when he takes the throne.
- The Cameo: Gommu from Book One is seen during the opening newsreel; he's now living in Republic City's Spirit Wilds.
- Chained to a Railway: Kuvira binds the captured bandits to the railroad behind her train. Then she presents them the option of either joining her or hoping someone finds them in the middle of nowhere before the next train comes speeding by.
- Combat Pragmatist: Kuvira beats the bandits by using metal binders to blind and then restrain them.
- Continuity Nod: The symbol on the floor in the earthbender fighting ring is the same one used for the Earth Rumble Six in "The Blind Bandit".
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Nearly two dozen or so bandits vs. Kuvira. She doesn't break a sweat.
- Korra ends up on the losing side of one. Her opponent in the fighting ring beats her easily. It's unclear whether Korra lost because she was still recovering from the Red Lotus poison, if she's deliberately holding back, or if she's out of shape and practice from her time in a wheelchair.
- The Dreaded: The bandits are terrified when they realized they picked a fight with Kuvira.
- Dull Surprise: Tonraq's reaction is surprisingly subdued for someone who just learned his daughter has been missing for six months. He seems more confused than he is surprised.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Vapid Prince Wu raises concerns over taking the Earth Kingdom throne, namely over whether or not it is safe for him to do so. A noted dislike for him in favor of Kuvira and an admission that the nation isn't completely stabilized serve as valid reasons for his worries. He also brings up the fact that his great aunt was killed despite living in much safer circumstances.
- Evil Power Vacuum: When the Earth Queen died and Ba Sing Se fell, her great-nephew and heir was spirited away to safety in Republic City and hasn't returned home since. Bandits are on the prowl for anything of value, while Kuvira harshly imposes her military might across the Earth Kingdom, and the person expected to bring order is a bratty, clueless teenager. Kuvira's supporters are not happy about Wu returning to claim the throne.
- Expository Hairstyle Change:
- Mako and Bolin wear their hair in more neat and mature styles. For Bolin especially, it signifies the acquisition of new adult responsibilities.
- Likewise, Asami's hair is now pulled back in a ponytail, giving her a more mature look.
- Korra cut her hair to shoulder-length and wears it down. She's currently hiding her identity to compete in underground fighting rings.
- Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo all grew their hair. Meelo is the first male Airbender raised in the tradition that we've seen who doesn't choose to shave his head.
- Faceless Goons: Averted in the case of the bandits, which all have individual designs and many of which are women, but played straight with Kuvira's masked troops who occupy the state of Yi.
- False Reassurance: When trying to convince Prince Wu that he has nothing to fear from taking the Earth Kingdom throne, Tenzin and Lin tell him that the nation is mostly stabilized and there is an "almost zero" percent chance of him being assassinated. This is still enough to visibly scare him.
- Fight Clubbing: Korra ditched returning to Republic City in favor of fighting in ring in the Earth Kingdom.
- Gas Mask Mooks: Kuvira's generic soldiers have this look. It's similar to the design of Varrick's magnet armor from "Old Wounds".
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Kuvira may be using it to force a better deal out of the governor, she is right about his situation. The bandits are too numerous for either his people or the stretched-thin airbenders to stop, and as long as their raids continue his people will be unable to provide for themselves. Sooner or later they'll starve, unless he agrees to her demands.
- Kneel Before Zod: Kuvira forces the Governor of Yi to pledge his loyalty to her, unless he doesn't want to keep his position.
- Leonine Contract: Kuvira gives the Governor of Yi a generous offer of military support and disaster relief in exchange for control over his lands, but as long as he refuses, he's left at the mercy of bandits which have greater numbers and resources than he does. Despite trying to keep from giving in, he's forced to after bandits hijack a food shipment that Kai and Opal were delivering.
- Men Are the Expendable Gender: Averted, the random bandits getting beaten up by Opal, Kai and Kuvira include women.
- Mini-Mecha: Kuvira has new, smaller mini mecha in her army, much closer to Powered Armor than the originals.
- Mugging the Monster: The bandits that attack Kuvira's train didn't know it was her train, and one insists that they wouldn't have done so at all if they knew better.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: After defeating the bandits, Kuvira binds them to the railroad tracks and says they can either join her or hope someone rescues them before the next train comes. Given their location, that isn't likely. They agree to join.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Mako when he learns Raiko has essentially loaned him to Prince Wu on a permanent basis, he panics.
- Everyone when they realize Korra has tricked them into thinking she was with the other party for the last six months.
- Produce Pelting: Something of a cross with this and Pie in the Face when some Kuvira supporters try to pelt Prince Wu with pies. They miss, but he gets some on his stomach and assumes it to be blood.
- Putting on the Reich:
- Kuvira's troops wear dark metal helmets reminiscent of either Samurai helmets or World War II German Army helmets (or Darth Vader helmets, complete with mask).
- The symbol of Kuvira's army and the Metal Clan
◊, an Earth Kingdom disc on a broad-armed cross within an octagon, bears some resemblance to the Balkenkreuz, the emblem of the German armed forces.
- Red Baron: Kuvira is known as "The Great Uniter".
- Reused Character Design: The promoter at the earthbender fight club is essentially a somewhat chubbier Daw, and it's been noted that the Badass Normal bandit Kai fights resembles one of the metalbender dancers from "The Metal Clan".
- Royal Brat: Prince Wu, great nephew of the deceased Earth Queen, is a womanizer, a hedonist and otherwise immature.
- Tempting Fate: Mako twice expresses the sentiment that he can only put up with Prince Wu because he knows the job is almost over. Then he learns Raiko has arranged for him to be Prince Wu's bodyguard indefinitely.
- Time Skip: Three years have passed since the last episode.
- Title Drop: By Asami:Asami: [talking about Korra] I can't wait to see her. It's going to be weird, having the old Team Avatar back in the city after all these years.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Raiko is in better spirits than he was last season, probably because his work with the Earth Kingdom is good press.
- Upper-Class Twit: Prince Wu thinks of nothing but spa days and shopping because of his royal status.
