History Headscratchers / TheLegendOfKorraTeamAvatar

[[folder: Asami the LordOfWar]]

[[folder: Asami the LordOfWar.]]

If the Avatar State is supposed to be a defense mechanism, intended to protect the Avatar when he or she is in mortal danger, why doesn't it activate at the end of "The Voice in the Night?" It certainly seemed like Korra was in danger of death, if not in the literal sense, then in the spiritual and metaphorical sense.[[hottip:*:Korra likely views the loss of her bending as something tantamount to death.]] She was also obviously in the throes of severe emotional distress, as her subsequent breakdown and admission indicate. Why then, when it would be most reasonable to do so, does the Avatar State not activate?

* He went to get [[{{Batman}} Ace the Bathound]], so Ace will alert Bruce that Republic City is in peril.

** Bolin must have been a toddler when their parents were killed. Since then Mako's been like his parent. Bolin is actually rather immature and childish for his age, so it's probably to show that he's more of an AdultChild, especially towards Mako. Besides, Mako wasn't looking.

***** Have to agree with the first post here. There was some interesting stuff going on that ''wasn't'' stated outright, and the showrunners have certainly shown themselves to be capable of writing stunning and downright elegant character development, but I think in this case the fact that they were basically saddled with a short season, a major plot to wrap up, and the possibility of a second season still shaky. The entire finale had some pacing issues, from Tarrlok's backstory exposition to the relationship wrap-up between Korra and Mako to the spiritual revelation and bending restoration. I don't think it's so much an AssPull as it is the fact that writers -- particularly writers for television -- aren't always free to tell the story as well as they would like to.

* So the whole reveal with Amon at the end. I can buy that groupthink could reasonably lead to "He has a scar, just like he said, this proves his entire backstory true," but then it just ends up being face paint? Really, Amon? Couldn't be bothered to spend 30 seconds actually scarring your face?
** Do you really, seriously think that "30 seconds" is all the inconvenience there's going to be from '''''burning your face off'''''? That is really, ''really'' not how it works. Burning his face off would have been one of the stupidest things Amon could have possibly done. You're saying he should have ''crippled himself for life''.\\\
Let's start from the top--his eyes. If he wants a scar that would justify wearing a mask, we're talking a really bad scar covering his face. This would mean ''cooking his face'', and you may not realize it but fire isn't a precision tool. There's no way he's going to get that big, that horrific a scar without burning out his own eyes.\\\
Next, his nose and lips--he's saying goodbye to his sense of smell at best, and without lips he's not going to be much of a public speaker. Then there's the recovery--maybe Amon is capable of healing, but could he concentrate on that when he's in maddening pain from literally cooking his own face?\\\
Facial burn scars aren't just some cosmetic thing you can just slap on and move on with your life. They're a crippling disfigurement.
*** Fire may not be precise, but this is also a world with firebenders (Which granted fire's uncontrollable nature is one of the key points of it, but they're able to achieve SOME level of precision with it). And obviously it would hurt, but I dunno, there's something decidedly disappointing about a villain who's not willing to go through excruciating pain for his cause (Death to the benders! I just hope none of those firebenders hit me, cause that stuff is like seriously hot, you gaiz). Hell, it doesn't even have to be that disfiguring, he just needs a scar to be like "See, that thing I said totally happened." Or he could have made up a different backstory that would be less painful to corroborate. I'm just saying, even if the villain is supposed to be wrong, it'd be nice if he'd at least commit (Even springing for face paint that isn't going to come off in water, especially given how large crowds plus underground steam vents generally equals wet).
**** He needs to have some alleged facial disfigurement to justify the mask. If he said he just wore it to avoid being recognised, or to hide a small scar, his fellow equalists may get suspicious if they NEVER see him with the mask off. That way, he has a sympathetic reason for this. Furthermore, actually hurting himself would be very impractical. Not only for the reasons mentioned above; without his mask, he can just disappear in a crowd. Nobody knows what he really looks like, and nobody expects him to not be disfigured. If something goes wrong, he removes the mask and the make-up and he's gone. I'll give you that, though, the face paint did come off rather easily.
***** I dunno, one of my friends did a Joker style cosplay for a con, and based on how long it took him to do the relatively tiny mouth scars, I would think that creating such a detailed and convincing scar every morning as part of a Xanatos Roulette (Not only on the off chance that someone calls him out on it, but even then banking on his followers being frothy enough to not actually stop and think about it) doesn't seem all that practical. Though I guess the ability to disappear in a crowd makes sense.
*** He's not going to use a Firebender, because that's either one person alive who knows the truth (which is one more than he would want), or someone he's going to have to kill to prevent loose ends--both of which are still more work and complications ''on top of'', once again, cooking his own face.\\\
And his make-up wasn't "detailed and convincing." If anyone had taken more than a cursory look at it, especially someone who had seen real facial scars, like Zuko's, they'd have been able to tell it was false. For one, his nose isn't at all misshapen, his eyebrows are still there, the skin itself isn't deformed at all except for upper lip--it was enough make-up to fool people from 15 or so feet away for 30 seconds before he put the mask back on. And more importantly, to fool people who were largely inclined to believe him in the first place--it was what they expected and wanted to see. Notice how the one person close enough to see the real details--the Lieutenant--actually does apparently begin to suspect immediately.