History Recap / TheLegendOfKorraS3E10LongLiveTheQueen

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Hou-Ting certainly did her best to justify Zaheer brutally murdering her.

* HypocriticalHumor: Hou-Ting calls Gun a coward for not laying down his life to save her, while she hides behind her own throne.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Zaheer offs the Earth Queen, has Ghazan break down the walls of the city, and tells the people to do as they please. Suddenly bereft of any sort of controlling influence and with newfound access to the upper rings of the city, most of the peasants start looting the wealthier areas.
** Bolin and Mako are imprisoned in the Earth Queen's dungeons. Mako tells Bolin to metalbend the doors and gets the whole cell block to cheer him on. Bolin digs deep, focuses... and achieves absolutely nothing. You don't instantly gain a very difficult and specialized skill just because people believe in you.

* IronicEpisodeTitle: "Long Live the Queen"; she's dead halfway through the episode. Doubly so when you consider it's a CompleteTheQuoteTitle, being a gender conjugated version of the phrase "The King is Dead, Long Live the King," a reference to the inheritance of the throne. Zaheer has made quite sure that won't be happening here.

* SpoilerTitle: With a title like "Long Live the Queen", it was easy for viewers to predict that this would not be a good day for the Earth Queen.

In Ba Sing Se, the Red Lotus hands over Mako and Bolin to the Earth Queen. Zaheer proposes a deal: the location of the escaped airbenders for Korra. They convince her that [[RealityEnsues imprisoning the Avatar would turn the other nations against her]], but they could make Korra disappear. The Earth Queen agrees.

News of the Avatar's escape reaches Ba Sing Se. With their deal falling through, the Red Lotus go for a secondary objective - assassination of the Earth Queen. The Dai Li are no match for the Red Lotus, and Zaheer asphyxiates the queen with his airbending. Zaheer announces his deed to the city as Ghazan tears down the wall of the lower ring. The revolt has begun!

* BoundAndGagged: Mako and Bolin are tied up in the back of the Red Lotus's truck while Bolin tries to make small-talk with Ming-Hua and Ghazan. Zaheer orders them gagged once they near the wall of Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, Korra is still tied up like Hannibal Lecter. Korra and Asami eventually escape, while Zaheer plans to release Mako and Bolin so they can pass on a message to Korra.

* BullyingADragon: The Earth Queen acts like her usual [[SarcasmMode charming self]] to, who she believes to be, a group of bounty hunters who have captured half of her enemies for her. The only reason that the Red Lotus made nice with the Queen is because capturing the Avatar is a higher priority to them. Once it becomes clear that the Earth Queen lost her Zaheer quickly murders her and decides to make Korra come to him instead.

* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Zaheer hijacks the city's PA system, proclaiming the deposition of the monarchy to the citizens of Ba Sing Se.

* EvilVsEvil: The Earth Queen and the Dai Li vs the Red Lotus.

* IronicEpisodeTitle: "Long Live The Queen"; she's dead halfway through the episode. Doubly so when you consider it's a CompleteTheQuoteTitle, being a gender conjugated version of the phrase "The King is Dead, Long Live the King," a reference to the inheritance of the throne. Zaheer has made quite sure that won't be happening here.

* {{MacGyvering}}: Asami builds a sandsailer out of the airship wreckage.

* MyopicArchitecture: The Cabbage Corp airship is ''very'' shoddily constructed. Which makes it ill equipped to contain Korra and Asami for long.

* RealityEnsues:
** Zaheer points out to the Earth Queen that holding the Avatar captive would get the other nations on her back.
** Zaheer offs the Earth Queen, has Ghazan break down the walls of the city, and tells the people to do as they please. Suddenly bereft of any sort of controlling influence and with newfound access to the upper rings of the city, most of the peasants start looting the wealthier areas.
** Bolin and Mako are imprisoned in the Earth Queen's dungeons. Mako tells Bolin to metalbend the doors and gets the whole cell block to cheer him on. Bolin digs deep, focuses... and achieves absolutely nothing. You don't instantly gain a very difficult and specialized skill just because people believe in you.

** An expert in building vehicles is part of a group stranded in the desert, and is able to put together a crude new transportation out of their old one that lasts just long enough to get them to safety. It's basically a WholePlotReference to ''Film/TheFlightOfThePhoenix1965''.

* SpoilerTitle: With a title like "Long Live The Queen", it was easy for viewers to predict that this would not be a good day for the Earth Queen.

* WrenchWench: Asami shows that she is every bit her father's daughter when it comes to engineering genius during this episode. First she manages to get the airship running again then forging a makeshift sandsailer out of scrap metal.

-->'''Hou-Ting''': You wouldn't ''dare'' attack a queen!\\

* BoundAndGagged: Mako and Bolin are tied up in the back of the truck while Bolin tries to make small-talk with Ming-Hua and Ghazan. Zaheer orders them gagged once they near the wall of Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, Korra is still tied up like Hannibal Lecter. Korra and Asami eventually escape, while Zaheer plans to release Mako and Bolin so they can pass on a message to Korra.

* PetTheDog: After they've killed the queen and need to announce it to the people, Ming-Hua threatens a radio operator who is initially reluctant to help. Zaheer calls her off, as it's people like him they are trying to help.

* TheGreatRepair: With Korra's bending and Asami's engineering genius, they get the crashed airship flight-ready in record time.

* HopeSpot: The airship is repaired and ready for takeoff... only to get eaten by a [[SandWorm Sand Shark]].

* PetTheDog: After they've killed the queen and need to announce it to the people, Ming-Hua threatens a radio operator who is initially reluctant to help. Zaheer calls her off, as it's people like him they are trying to help.

* BrickJoke: Korra forgot to bring treats for Naga last episode. Lin has them though.

* FromBadToWorse: This episode epitomizes this trope; the Earth Queen is an evil tyrant who brings misery in all of the Earth Kingdom. Zaheer has toppled the Earth Queen, and now Ba Sing Se has fallen into complete chaos and lawlessness that potentially threatens the rest of the Earth Kingdom.

* HonorBeforeReason: The airship captain seems to recognize that an unchained Korra is a bit out of his league, but he has orders and has to keep her prisoner regardless. He's pragmatic enough to know that they aren't escaping the [[SandWorm Sand Shark]] without her help, though. He eventually decides that it's not his problem after they finally get out of the desert.

** Zaheer convinces the Earth Queen that trying to hold Korra prisoner would bring unwanted international attention upon her kingdom, bartering the location of the new airbenders in exchange for turning Korra over to him. The Earth Queen agrees to the deal, but it falls through when Zaheer overhears that Korra has escaped and confronts the queen about it.

** Bolin and Mako are imprisoned in the Earth Queen's dungeons. Mako tells Bolin to metalbend the doors and gets the whole cell block to cheer him on. Bolin digs deep, focuses... and achieves absolutely nothing. You don't instantly gain a very difficult and specialized skill because people believe in you.

* SmugSnake: The Earth Queen, right up until the very end.
* SpoilerTitle: With a title like "Long Live The Queen", it wasn't hard for many viewers to predict that this would not be a good day for the Earth Queen.

* TooDumbToLive: Yeah, Hou-Ting, it's really a good idea to mouth off to the dangerous benders who just took out your Dai Li like they were common soldiers. She even knows they want to do ''something'' to the Avatar that'll permanently neutralize her, but thinks that they'll balk at hurting a queen.
* TwoOutOfThreeAintBad: Ghazan says this after Bolin guesses his history. It's not clear which two of the three Bolin got correct, though.

* TheWorfEffect: Zaheer and his crew take out the ''[[EliteMooks Dai Li]]'' in under a minute when outnumbered two to one.
* WrenchWench: Asami shows that she is every bit her father's daughter when it comes to engineering genius during the episode, first managing to get the airship running again then forging a makeshift sandsailer out of scrap metal.

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Everyone in Ba Sing Se but Mako and Bolin's grandmother seem to be rejoicing once the Earth Queen is killed.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: It's hard to say if Zaheer ever intended to honor his deal with Hou-Ting -- certainly, he would have tried to kill her on general principle eventually, as it is his goal and something he wouldn't pass up -- but as soon as he learns that Korra has escaped custody, he abandons the trade and decides to bring Korra to him by assassinating Hou-Ting.

* HopeSpot: The airship is repaired and ready for takeoff... only to get eaten by the [[SandWorm Sand Shark]].

* HopeSpot: The airship is repaired and ready for takeoff... only to get eaten by the SandWorm.
* HonorBeforeReason: The airship captain seems to recognize that an unchained Korra is a bit out of his league, but he has orders and has to keep her prisoner regardless. He's pragmatic enough to know that they aren't escaping the SandWorm without her help, though. He eventually decides that it's not his problem after they finally get out of the desert.

* SandWorm: The giant sand fish that chases Korra, Asami, and the airship crew.

** The Sand Shark, naturally, calls to mind the SandWorm from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''.

** The SandWorm-fish-thing, naturally, calls to mind the version from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''.