History NightmareFuel / TheLegendOfKorra

[[folder: Book 1 Episodes]]

[[folder: Book 2 Episodes]]

[[folder: Book 4 Episodes]]

* Something about the way Zaheer is so at ease with his past evil acts and counseling Korra and sees no contradiction between these two things is deeply distressing. Perhaps because Zaheer seems to have no remorse for his actions whatsoever. The fact that his help of Korra is *genuinely helpful* arguably makes the interaction even more disturbing. Possibly because there is little doubt that, if given the chance, he would absolutely do all the same things again.

* Something about the way Zaheer is so at ease with his past evil acts and counseling Korra and sees no contradiction between these two things is deeply distressing. Perhaps because Zaheer seems to have no remorse for his actions whatsoever. The fact that his help of Korra is 'genuinely helpful' arguably makes the interaction even more disturbing. Possibly because there is little doubt that, if given the chance, he would absolutely do all the same things again.

** Also, is it a coincidence that Aiwei was stationed with Suyin, a daughter of the previous Avatar's earthbending master? Korra had no idea Su existed, but the reverse isn't true, and Aiwei may have assumed that, knowing the Avatar's propensity to continue relationships with people known in a previous life, hiding among the Metal Clan would eventually put him in a position to deliver intelligence on the Avatar. Even if she never visited Zaofu herself, Suyin might have passed on some gossip heard from a family friend like Katara or Tenzin that Korra was expected at such-and-such an event, eventually, even if Zaheer himself never escaped prison.

* The Equalists attack the Pro Bending Stadium in a blatant terrorist attack. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a terrorist attack in this show. And what an attack! Every cop is taken out by being electrocuted unconscious, Chief Lin Beifong and Tenzin first, the Avatar and her friends are tied under the stage after also being electrocuted unconscious, the Wolfbats all have their bending taken, Amon blows up the stage (with Korra, Mako, and Bolin barely escaping), and gets away with the building all-but destroyed, and what's left is hanging with Equalist tapestries. [[HolyShitQuotient They went there, folks.]]

* Zaheer and his cohorts have vowed to destroy the Avatar, and tried to kidnap Korra when she was revealed to be the Avatar. Keep in mind that Korra was just four years old when the White Lotus found her. Not to mention they probably planned to force her into the Avatar State using mercury poison before killing her like they did later on, all while she's still just a little girl!

* Zaheer and his cohorts have vowed to destroy the Avatar, and tried to kidnap Korra when she was revealed to be the Avatar. Keep in mind that Korra was just four years old when the White Lotus found her.

* This episode goes a long way to showing just how dangerous the Red Lotus is. They only fail to get Korra because of Pabu making a racket. Otherwise, they got in, drugged her, and could have moved her back out without anyone even knowing if not for that one detail. And even when they lost the element of surprise, they still had the power to fight all the metalbenders and the Krew to a draw until Zaheer could provide a distraction.

* The Red Lotus curbstomping Mako and Bolin.

* The entire premise of the show is rather unsettling as unlike the show's predecessor, the new Avatar Korra is thrown into a world of corrupt rulers, dictators, and anti-Avatar politicians many of which are of her own family and nation, massive prejudice between benders and non-benders, maniacal benders out to take over the world and kill her in the process, spiritual imbalance that threatens to tear the world apart, and monstrous nigh-unstoppable spirits and expected to deal with it all while living up to Avatar Aang's namesake. Any wonder why the poor girl starts to lose it?

** Once upon a time, the human world was normal and mundane. No spirits. Then spirits start flooding in through a Vaatu-shaped hole in reality, are unbeatable by human means, and rage at humans for disrespecting them and nature. The only humans that survive are the ones that flee to the top of lion-turtles and make cities on their shells. This becomes HarsherInHindsight when it's later revealed the lion-turtles went extinct after humans decided to hunt them into near-extinction despite selflessly keeping them alive and even granting them the power of bending. HumansAreBastards indeed.

* Korra's link to the past Avatars is gone. Even though Korra recovered Raava, they're never coming back. She's now the first link in a new chain and she finds this terrifying

* Korra's state at the beginning.
* The world Wan lived in is a CrapsackWorld where EverythingTryingToKillYou, from the grass to the fruits to your fellow humans.
** Once upon a time, the human world was normal and mundane. No spirits. Then they start flooding in through a Vaatu-shaped hole in reality, are unbeatable by human means, and rage at humans for disrespecting them and nature. The only humans that survive are the ones that flee to the top of lion-turtles.

** The way Unalaq accomplishes this. He is locked in a fight with Korra, then his neck starts shaking in an unnatural manner as if he's possessed, then Vaatu's tentacles emerge from his mouth and enter Korra's mouth, extracting Raava by physically pulling her out.
* Unalaq tried killing Korra by crushing her in a crevasse.

* Zaheer flat out laughing when it appears that Korra had died in Tonraq's arms, complete with the poor man grieving over his daughter's supposed death. In that small action, all traces of humanity that Zaheer might have had just disappeared for good.

** Also Opal's ReasonYouSuckSpeech where she calls Bolin out for what happens to towns once Kuvira leaves. According to her they're put into forced labor if Kuvira wants specific resources or outputs from a region.

** What's worse is that Electrocution is [[CaptainObvious painful and deadly]], it can damage internal organs, stop your heart, among other horrible things. And the councilwoman is old; she's not young and spry like Korra and friends. Being shocked like that point blank with Spirits know what voltage would most likely cause permanent damage.

** It's not quick, either. He leaves a ball of air to keep her on the brink of death while he gives another [[CreepyMonotone speech]] before finishing the job. On the other hand this also counts as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome given how twisted and horrible she is.

** He's extremely competent, planning every step ahead of our heroes, only losing when he was put into a position where had to improvise. Plus, his level of [[AntiVillain villainy]] is is [[AmbiguouslyEvil questionable]], even if he's ruthless, cold, and calculating. His preached ideals [[VillainHasAPoint bring up a good point]] in that the rift between benders and non benders is definitely there, something which Tarrlok also proves with his laws. With the power to remove bending, and with his great charisma, he's even convinced a lot of people to join his side, as he [[VillainWithGoodPublicity has a large following]]. Naturally, they're as creepy as he is.

* Asami's fight with Sato. Did we seriously see a man get so furious that he tried to kill his own daughter?

*** The library in the Spirit World didn't fill up with sand. But Zei's corpse looks suspiciously like a sand mummy. That is, a corpse that has been near-perfectly preserved by being buried in several tonnes of sand. But at least he didn't starve?
*** He seems to sit right where he left in the original series, so it's likely that he drowned in sand before the library reached the spirit world.
*** If you note carefully, Professor Zei's remains are mummified, not stripped to bare bone like Gyatso's. This implies that he died of dehydration.

** The whole setup is extremely creepy due to DramaticIrony. Ikki and Meelo let Zaheer in, having no reason to think he's a normal, curious, friendly guy, and it takes some time for Kya to finally see and identify him. The fact that he was wandering around with the airbenders for that long and could've easily gotten Korra without anyone realizing what happened if she'd been there is a prime combination of NightmareFuel and ParanoiaFuel.

** His entire introduction scene. The mystery of why someone would warrant such tight security, the almost philosophical conversation he has with the guards, the fact he was able to kick their butts with powers he had only had for at most two weeks, it all adds up to the thought of "Holy sh*t! Hannibal Lector has air bending!"

* In Lin's flashback, when she tries apprehending Suyin and seizes her arm with a metal cable. Suyin's brief expression of pure rage is disturbing. Then she reveals a BladeBelowTheShoulder from her arm band and cuts the cable, which then rebounds on Lin's face and causes her scars. From the length and direction, that could have been [[EyeScream her eye]]. However bad Suyin might have been as a DelinquentTeenager, she clearly could have become a lot worse.

* Korra wakes up and she's in a straight jacket strapped to a dolly. [[Film/SilenceOfTheLambs Remind you of anything?]]. Asami is chained up next to her. No, they haven't been captured by the Red Lotus, but being captured by the Earth Queen's forces.

** It's not quick, either. He leaves a ball of air to keep her on the brink of death while he gives another [[CreepyMonotone speech]] before finishing the job. On the other hand this also counts as a CrowningMomentOFAwesome given how twisted and horrible she is.

** Ghazan, normally the friendliest and most mild-mannered of the Red Lotus, completely loses his cool when faced with the prospect of going back to prison and brings the cavern down on himself in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Mako and Bolin. That's right; a bad guy on a nominal kids' show intentionally killed himself with lava. While his TakingYouWithMe attempt failed, he removed any ambiguity from Ming-Hua's fate.]]

* The Earth Queen has a disturbing fondness for eating rare animals, supposedly including her father's beloved pet bear Busco.

'''Moment Subpages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff. You have been warned.'''

'''There will be spoilers.'''

** And naturally, [[spoiler:he makes a [[OneSceneWonder surprise appearance]] in the final episode of Book 3 as one of Korra's hallucinations, being one of the very things that she fears the most. What's unsettling is how he's revealed: Zaheer's face cracks off and Amon's mask is revealed underneath. It's not pleasant to look at or listen to.]]

** [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]] is in charge of all of the dark Spirits, and while he resembles a giant flatworm, something just looks... [[EldritchAbomination very wrong]] about him, nothing natural. He [[TheCorruption corrupts spirits]] and as the [[ChaosIsEvil god of chaos]], he is essentially the GreaterScopeVillain of the whole series, and the BigBad of this Book. He has existed before man was born and will exist forever. [[spoiler:He also makes a [[OneSceneWonder surprise reappearance]] at the end of Book 3, being another one of Korra's deepest ingrained fears, hallucinating him. Ming Hua dissolves and morphs into Vaatu, flying up to Korra, taunting and tormenting her. It's even speculated that it could have actually been him...]]
** Then you have Unalaq, one of the most vile human beings in either series, right up there with Ozai. Incidentally, both are [[AbusiveParents awful parents]], too. Unalaq's crimes include manipulating a [[KangarooCourt courtroom trial]] to attempt to get anyone who opposes him removed, setting up a scheme for dark Spirits to attack the Northern Water Tribe just to frame his own brother, [[CurbstompBattle nearly killing]] said brother and sparing him just so he can watch him conquer the world, [[ParentalNeglect not giving a damn]] about his own son being injured, [[WouldHurtAChild destroying a little girl's soul]], freeing the aforementioned GodOfEvil and fusing with him to achieve entire world conquest, destroying the link to the past Avatars of many generations... suffice to say, Unalaq is a terrifying person to cross. [[spoiler:Actually, another one of his crimes include being part of an anarchist group only to betray them all and manipulate them for his own end. He also makes a [[OneSceneWonder surprise reappearance]] in the final episode of Book 3 as one of Korra's hallucinations. Ghazan's neck snaps and twists around, then his face is changed to Unalaq's face, in yet another very disturbing moment.]]

* While probably a coincidence, [[http://you-are-bolin.tumblr.com/post/23200693911/amons-revelation-speech-has-a-hidden-message-a reversing Amon's speech]] gives off some rather eldritch results. [[spoiler:Servants, I am the night.]]

* After watching "Turning the Tides" and seeing [[spoiler: General Iroh's fleet]], look back at the trailer for the season finale, and look at what those bombers were attacking, and the aftermath.
* [[spoiler: Tarrlok and Amon's childhood. First their father drills them rigorously in waterbending. Then he makes them bloodbend animals; the poor yak and wolves are clearly in pain and terrified about what's happening to them. Then he forces them to bloodbend each other.]]

** What about the scene of [[spoiler:Amon pulling a group of terrified, fleeing wolves back to him and forcing them to bow down to him! That alone is enough to make one question just how well intentioned Amon really is.]]

* [[spoiler: Tarrlok killing himself and Amon.]] Doubles as a Tearjerker, but as people mentioned watching it: Did we just see a MurderSuicide on a kid's show?
** Well, the creators did say the show would be a DarkerAndEdgier series than the first, and made for the audience who were kids when watching the original. Doesn't make the fact that [[spoiler: they actually showed suicide]] any less shocking, though.
** Also; [[spoiler: Amon/Noatak boating himself and Tarrlok away, only for Tarrlok to blow them both up when he had his back turned.]] Hard to say whether its better or worse if he did know it was going to happen.
** [[spoiler: [[FridgeHorror Imagine the aftermath of the explosion.]] Burning oil and dismembered bits of limbs and viscera spread across the water, slowly sinking along with the boat debris.]] On second thought… [[NauseaFuel don't.]]

** One of the worst examples was him pulling Korra out of her hiding-place [[spoiler:via bloodbending]]. The implication is that he "felt" her [[spoiler:blood.]]

* Katara says she's tried "everything in her power" to [[spoiler:restore Korra's bending.]] Just like [[spoiler:Amon]], Katara is a bloodbender. Do the math.

* Amon when he first removes his mask. [[spoiler: Even though it was make-up that made his face look burned,]] it was extremely jarring. Especially his lip.
* [[spoiler: Amon depowered Korra.]] For a moment in this show, it truly felt like TheBadGuyWins.
** [[spoiler: We get to see through Mako's point of view, while Amon is bloodbending him, holding him to the floor. Imagine what he was going through at that moment: his best friend, the girl he loves is about to have her bending taken away by a psycho villain, and he's powerless to do anything but watch.]]
* [[spoiler: When Amon is about to take away Mako's bending, we get a good look at Mako's face. He's showing ''pure fear''. This has to be the first time on the show that Mako is genuinely afraid.]]
* Though Amon was defeated, Tarrlok inadvertently [[ConsolationPrize helped him score just one victory against the Avatar]]; [[spoiler: Korra only saw his boat escaping, and no-one witnessed Tarrlok blowing up the boat. Korra and the rest of the world still think he's at large. Amon will be haunting Korra's nightmares probably for the rest of her days, and she'll be constantly looking over her shoulder for him.]]

* Unalaq reveals that his plan is to [[spoiler:[[FusionDance fuse with Vaatu]] and become an EvilCounterpart to the Avatar.]]
* [[spoiler:Vaatu is free. Repeat, [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]] [[OmnicidalManiac is]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt free]].]]

* [[spoiler:Vaatu manages to merge with Unalaq and rip Raava right out of Korra and destroy her. Even more, with every strike Unalaq laid onto Raava, all of the preceding Avatars begin to disintegrate, the last one of them being Wan.]]
** The way Unalaq accomplishes this. He is locked in a fight with Korra, then [[spoiler:his neck starts shaking in an unnatural manner as if he's possessed, then Vaatu's tentacles emerge from his mouth and enter Korra's mouth, extracting Raava by physically pulling her out.]]

* [[spoiler:Unalaq successfully fuses with Vaatu and becomes a Dark Avatar, and then grows to giant proportions]] and starts laying waste to Republic City, acquiring a very terrifying-looking body in the process.
* [[spoiler:Korra's link to the past Avatars is gone. Even though Korra recovered Raava, they're never coming back. She's now the first link in a new chain and she finds this terrifying]]
* The things that [[spoiler:Unavaatu]] does. Destroying ships and buildings, ripping off Aang's statue and throwing it in the ocean... and Pema let her young children watch it. Not to mention that the statue is of their grandfather.
* A moment of FridgeHorror for your minds: when [[spoiler:Korra destroyed Unavaatu, Unalaq died and Vaatu dissolved. But Vaatu is somewhere because if he wasn't, Raava would have died with him. Dark cannot exist without the light. Vaatu can't destroy the light any more then the Raava can destroy the darkness. If Vaatu were to kill Raava, she will eventually reform within him over the next ten thousand years.]] That's right, Vaatu [[spoiler:will eventually reform within Raava and the Avatars.]]
** To make things worse, [[spoiler: because he's now fused with a human soul, when he's eventually freed he ''will'' create a new Dark Avatar. If he refuses to go into the avatar state when he dies, he would be free to reincarnate and begin his work again. Picture the Avatar and how much good it's done over the centuries, then imagine if that same immortal omni-bending being was devoted to chaos and destruction. Due to the nature of the spirits, this isn't a matter of if but when.]]
* Just the image of [[spoiler:Vaatu reaching [[OrificeInvasion inside]] Korra, [[AndIMustScream blinding her and blocking her airways]], and indelicately ripping out Raava]], coupled with Unalaq's SlasherSmile throughout the whole scene as he [[spoiler:[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath viciously whips Raava to death]]]] - [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids onscreen]], no less!
** [[spoiler: Korra can feel every single strike, but not the physical pain, oh no; she feels every single connection to the past Avatars being severed from her!]]

* The horrifying death of [[spoiler:P'Li. To save Lin, Suyin bends her armor over P'Li's head [[YourHeadASplode in mid-blast]].]] If you know a little about physics, [[FridgeHorror it gets worse]]. [[spoiler:The metal shell over her head would focus the force of the blast into a tiny area, while the opening around her neck would direct the force down like a shaped charge. It's very likely that her own skull fragments ripped the rest of her body apart.]] If it's any comfort, she probably died instantly.
** It's worth noting that this wasn't quite a GoryDiscretionShot for a few reasons. In the split second before the perspective shifts, you can see [[spoiler:the armor begin to bulge as light pokes through]], meaning that she was almost certainly dead before the cutaway. Also, if you look closely at the smoke rising from the crater, you can see [[ChunkySalsaRule something]] just too distant to make out being flung into the sky.

* The deaths of [[spoiler:Ming-Hua and Ghazan]], as confirmed by WordOfGod.
** [[spoiler:While facing off against Mako in an underground water cavern, Ming-Hua is horrifically electrocuted onscreen, falling lifelessly into the water below. If she wasn't killed by the electricity or drowning, Ghazan inadvertently took care of her a few minutes later.]]
** [[spoiler:Ghazan, normally the friendliest and most mild-mannered of the Red Lotus, completely loses his cool when faced with the prospect of going back to prison and brings the cavern down on himself in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Mako and Bolin. That's right; a bad guy on a nominal kids' show intentionally killed himself with lava. While his TakingYouWithMe attempt failed, he removed any ambiguity from Ming-Hua's fate.]]

** Here's another thing to consider. [[spoiler:Later on it's shown Raava can come back.... if that's true then wouldn't that mean Vaatu WASN'T just a hallucination?]]

* Zaheer flat out laughing when it appears that Korra [[spoiler:had died in Tonraq's arms, complete with the poor man grieving over his daughter's supposed death.]] In that small action, all traces of humanity that Zaheer might have had just disappeared for good.

* Kuvira sends not only her opponents to "reeducation camps", but also all foreigners. For a little bit of Fridge Horror, [[spoiler: one must wonder if any of the other Airbenders out there have met this fate, including Kai who has been absent since the first episode.]] Refer back to "The Calling" Where Ikki was captured by two of Kuvira's soldiers. It's possible she very nearly met this same fate.

* The jump scare that [[spoiler:Zaheer]] makes. No wonder Korra stepped back.

* Baatar and Kuvira test out the Spirit ray on an empty town. It missed, but tore right through a mountainside. Worst of all, was that they had planned to fire it right on [[spoiler:Zhu Li]], as punishment for sabotaging the weapon.

* Kuvira marches out for Republic City, [[spoiler:and ends up being a week early. And she shows up with a ''giant mech''. Its reveal is at first in the shadows, and pans up from the ground to show how tall it is.]] And the first thing the audience sees it do is destroy an outpost with ''one shot'', likely leaving no survivors.
** What is especially telling is the looks on everyone's faces when she marches into Republic City [[spoiler:on that monstrosity.]] The whole cast looks on in sheer horror, especially General Iroh, who is one of the closest ones to it and is seen visibly sweating. Then she starts shooting the naval ships...
** Some of the camera work really helps portray [[spoiler:what an inhuman, giant monster it is, even if it is just a giant mech]], with one shot in particular as it appears from behind a mountain making it look like it came out of a {{Kaiju}} film.

** When she finally reaches Republic City, [[spoiler:her first act is to bully Raiko into surrendering by firing on some battleships.]] While the air benders managed to evacuate some of them safely, how many others were killed by the blast?
* Korra's threat is pretty damn terrifying. No wonder [[spoiler: Baatar Jr.]] cracked so easily. [[spoiler: She says if he doesn't stop Kuvira's attack then even if Kuvira wins, Korra will flee the city and take Baatar Jr with her. She will spend her entire life keeping him prisoner away from Kuvira, since she is the one thing he truly loves in life.]] After several episodes of being a BrokenBird, Korra gets to frighteningly remind the viewers why she's not to be trifled with. The best part is this is eerily similar to Tarrlok's threat to Korra in "Out of the Past" back in Book One, where he intended to keep Korra as a hostage.
* Kuvira really [[MoralEventHorizon crosses the line]] when she [[spoiler:destroys the factory where her beloved Baatar Jr is being held, and after he tries to convince her to leave Republic City. No longer is she a WellIntentionedExtremist if you ever thought she still was one. No, this one action showed the audience that this is a woman who has thrown away her humanity and compassion with her lover, as she values her plans of conquest above Baatar Jr's life. Even the fact that she does seem to love him doesn't change the fact that she still did that]]. She has become the Unfettered by placing her goals above personal attachments.

* [[spoiler:Hiroshi Sato]] being crushed to death by the mecha. They don't shy away from the scene, either ([[GoryDiscretionShot save for not actually showing his body]]). The flattened hummingbird mech slides down the side of the Colossus like a swatted bug. It definitely helps the scare factor when [[spoiler:we see Asami's reaction in horror and heartbreak at his HeroicSacrifice.]]

* The Spirit Vine core of the Colossus is quite a sight, but also very, very dangerous. It is a huge jumble of Spirit Vines radiating a purple glow, with electricity coursing through it to power up the mech. It just looks very supernatural, and should not be messed with. [[spoiler:Mako finds this out, with his arm getting burned after he uses his lightningbending to make the core explode. The electrical feedback causes his sleeve to burst away, and his arm is still in a cast at the wedding.]]
* Kuvira's subtle but noticeable VillainousBreakdown throughout the episode. As Korra gets the upper hand in their fight, her usual calm and stoic demeanor in battle descends into a frantic desperation as she finds herself outclassed by the woman she had bested previously. [[spoiler: When the Colossus is destroyed, Kuvira rejects Korra's offer to surrender and retreats into the Spirit Wilds, her hair unkempt and in a crazed state as she absolutely ''refuses'' to consider giving up. It culminates in a last-ditch attempt to kill Korra through using the Spirit Vine Cannon, and possibility destroying the entire city in the process.]]
* After Kuvira and Korra get out of the mech, Korra chases her into the Spirit Wilds. [[spoiler:Kuvira is seen on the cannon that she threw away and attempted to fire one more shot directly at Korra. It overloads, being entangled by all the Spirit Vines and causes a chain reaction. It continues firing, causing a gigantic explosion that engulfed all of the downtown area of the city. If it had not been for Korra bending the energy itself, everyone would have died. It's pretty scary to come face to face with what is essentially a nuclear bomb, with its sheer city-leveling destruction. The horror of everyone running away for cover is essentially tantamount to a [[FantasticNuke nuclear disaster]]. It had enough energy to ''rip a permanent hole in space-time itself'', creating a new spirit portal.]]
* The sight of the [[spoiler:new spirit portal]] is beautiful. The fact that it's in the middle of a crater and surrounded by ruined skyscrapers puts a damper on it. [[NoEndorHolocaust Thankfully, they were empty due to the evacuation]].

* Hundun is a very creepy old man bastard indeed, being a HumanoidAbomination of a spirit with [[DarkIsEvil dark powers]] that intends to drain Korra's life. However, what truly takes the cake is the reveal that [[spoiler:he's a congenital twin, with his grotesque and almost zombie-like brother attached to his back]].

* The way Eska and Desna laugh. It's [[FunnyMoment funny]] but also very creepy.

* The Earth Queen possibly crossing the MoralEventHorizon of killing and eating her father's bear Bosco, if the rumor cited by the poacher is to be believed. Is she competing with [[LiveActionTV/GameOfThrones Joffrey]] for the title of "Worst Monarch Ever"?! FridgeBrilliance makes it worse. Factor in the fact that bears don't live as long as humans, this means that if she did do it, Hou-Ting likely killed and ate her father's sweet and gentle pet when she was no older than her teens.

* The BigBad of the first book, Amon, could just be one of the creepiest villains in the entire series. Of course, he's voiced by SteveBlum, using his creepiest possible voice.

* GreyDeLisle's voice is reserved for Ming-Hua, the armless waterbender woman that fights using CombatTentacles.

** A bit of FridgeHorror from the last series. Much like before, the Dai Li all appear to be male and there are likely female airbenders locked up. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Do the math.]]