We begin with Korra and Tenzin's children arriving to meet the ship carrying Bolin, Mako, and Asami to Air Temple island. We get a minute of so of alleged comedy from Tenzin's children. We then find out that there are "Air Acolytes" who helped Asami move her stuff. Who they are exactly is never actually explained in this work, but that's OK: they're practically invisible.
While the Scourge Of All That Is Good On The Earth starts working his mojo on Asami (yes, really), Ikki and Bolin engage in a battle of the motormouths. Joy. Mako and Bolin head off to the men's dorm, while Korra and Ikki show Asami to her room. On the way, Ikki indelicately tells Asami about Korra's crush on Mako, prompting over-acting/animation from Korra. We get some of that from Ikki when Korra leads Asami into her room and closes the door in Ikki's face.
Korra introduces Asami to the room, saying that it's more "rustic" than she's probably used to. But Asami doesn't mind; at least it doesn't remind her of her father. It's a rare show that goes from overbearing, broad humor to subdued tragedy in the same 20 seconds. Tenzin interrupts them, saying that Lin's replacement, Saikon, is being inducted as chief, and they should be there.
Cut to there, where Saikon makes a speech about how important this is, how difficult things are, yadda yadda. The upshot is that he's going to be reporting directly to councilor Tarrlok, citing him as being the most effective person against the Equalists. Isn't that, I don't know, kinda... illegal? Should the Chief's superiors be clearly delineated by some legal framework? Anyway, after the press conference, Tenzin confronts Tarrlok, accusing him of some illegal actions with Saikon, but Tarrlok naturally denies it.
Tarrlok then asks Korra to come back to his task force. She says no. We get a quick explanation for why Korra's suddenly turned on Tarrlok when she seemed OK with him before, as she rails about how he uses people, including Lin. Then she tells him that he needs her, but she doesn't need him, since she's the Avatar. So Tarrlok speaks the page quote, delivering a precision strike to Korra's ego. Having completed his verbal ownage, he tells her to stay out of his way.
Cut to Korra and Tenzin on a sky bison. Korra's frustrated that, even after learning a bunch of practice forms, she still can't airbend; she considers herself a failure. Tenzin tries to reassure her, but to no avail. So Tenzin suggests that she get advice from her past lives, but that dips into the "spiritual stuff" that Korra also fails at. Tenzin suggests that she may have made contact, but didn't recognize it, thinking it was just a dream. She considers some hallucinations she had, and Tenzin suggests that she meditate on them.
Cut to Korra sitting on a cliff, looking at the statue of Avatar Aang; she's crying. Bolin and Mako call out for Korra, but she doesn't say anything. They and Asami show up. After some cajoling, Korra eventually explains that she feels helpless, that she can't save the city and is "the worst Avatar ever." Well Korra, you haven't managed to end a populist revolution by giving an oppressive dictator the means to dominate and control his city in perpetuity.
Nor did you cause a 100 year long war because you and your supposed BFF were incapable of communicating like human beings. So you've got a hell of a long way to fall to reach that point.
Asami tries to prop up her bruised ego, Mako points out that Aang was still in training while fighting the Fire Nation, and Bolin reminds her that she still has the three of them. Then he cements his status as a sad imitation of Sokka by calling themselves "the New Team Avatar." They all triumphantly put their hands in the center on top of each other, and Korra says they'll save the city together.
Then SOATIGOTE enters to do some mood-killing. And fart-bending. Komedy!
Cut to Bolin declaring that they're going to patrol the city. Um... why? I guess we have to start the plot somehow. They gather together, including Asami who's decided to take up that shock gauntlet full-time. They all triumphantly climb onto Naga to go on patrol... only for Naga to dump them off for being too heavy. Well, they can't use a large dog, so Asami suggests something more modern.
Cut to a garage door opening. Out drives Asami in a black roadster with red seats. The others get in and they drive off while bitchin' music plays. Conveniently, Hiroshi had police scanners put into his cars. Sure why not. They hear about a jailbreak by Equalists, then almost immediately encounter the Equalist escapees. How dramatically convenient.
A chase ensues, only here it's backed by bending. They use earthbending to jump a truck, then take out some motorcycles with earth and lightningbending. Asami uses her power of "I brought goggles" to drive through a smoke screen without incident. Sure why not. And then she runs over two more motorcycles, but their riders leap onto the car and attack. Fortunately, they ignore Asami, who is able to take them out with her shock gauntlet. And for the final measure, Mako murders the truck's driver with lightning; that is still a {{One Hit Kill}} in the Avatar-verse, right?
Cut to Korra&Ko with the badguys tied up. Tarrlok and his task force arrive, which gives Korra the chance to rub in how they captured the escapees first. Tarrlok complains that she was impeding his investigation, but Korra ego strokes a bit by saying that they'd have gotten away if Korra&Ko hadn't gotten involved.
Cut to the next day, in the council session. Tarrlok states that the Equalists are using their freedoms against the city, so he's going to curtail them; yeah, that's always the right response. He suggests that they make being an Equalist illegal, as well as associating with them. Oh, and all non-benders have to be at home at night. Wow, really? Are there that few non-benders in Republic City? Tenzin is outraged by the obvious overreach here. Tarrlok's counter-"argument" is that Tenzin is acting cowardly. Then he puts it to a vote, which passes with only Tenzin's dissent.
Really? No debate? No discussion? He just proposes it and nobody else objects, despite the obvious fact that it's doing exactly what Amon wants? Who the hell are these three nearly-silent councilors anyway? And why the hell does Tarrlok get to call the vote anyway; Tenzin hadn't really gotten started with his argument.
Cut to that night, where Korra&Ko are having dinner next to their car. There's a report on the radio of an armed group of Equalists, so they climb in and high-tail it. Only this time, Mako and Korra share the backseat. Asami looks at them through the rear-view suspiciously.
When they get to the Equalists, they find that they're not Equalists at all; they're just a group of non-benders who've had their power shut off. So they have segregation of benders and non-benders too? Are we sure this place isn't called The People's Republic City? Saikon is on a megaphone and orders the crowd to disperse or be arrested. You're going to arrest a whole crowd? Do you even have that much jail space?
One of the citizens notices Korra and says, "Please, help us. You're our Avatar too." Korra shoves some police officers aside, then says that she's going to stop this. She sees Tarrlok and confronts him about turning the power off. He says he's not going to turn it back on, that they're Equalists. Asami points out that they just want their rights, but Tarrlok declares them the enemy and orders the police to arrest them.
And they do. Which is what happens when you only put benders on the police force; if there was a non-bender brigade, there'd be a lot less ready compliance. They metalbend the police barricades around groups of people. Not all of them, which means that the rest could try and rush the cops. But that would make the people less innocent, so meek and docile they remain, though some of them try to run. When the metalbenders lift up some of the trapped crowd, Korra finally decides to stop them and lowers the crowd back onto the ground.
So Tarrlok decides to up the game; he waterbends and arrests Asami (who forgot her shock gauntlet), for being out after curfew. Oh, and her father is an Equalist, thus she's associated with him. Naturally Mako's upset, so Tarrlok has he and Bolin arrested too. Korra's not going to stand for that, so Korra Smash!
Then Tarrlok stops her simply by saying that she'll be arrested too. Mako agrees, so she stops. After her friends, and the crowd, are all taken away, Tarrlok gloats over the loss of "Team Avatar." Korra tries to save face by claiming that it's not over, but both she and Tarrlok know that it's an empty gesture.
Cut to Tenzin meeting Korra at the police station. Tenzin asks for a word with Saikon, who claims he's swamped. Oh, really? Maybe you shouldn't have arrested a whole crowd all at once. When asked about Korra's friends, Saikon simply says that they were rightfully arrested for interfering with police business. Business that Korra points out was arresting innocents who should also be released. Saikon then says that he now has the power of indefinite detention for any Equalist suspects, until Tarrlok says otherwise. I don't remember that part of the legislation, and neither does Tenzin. But he'll get that fixed in the morning at the council meeting.
Cut to Korra lying in bed, unable to sleep. She eventually grunts in frustration and goes to her window, while the snow drifts down. After a good stare at the city, Korra gets on her epic mount and takes a ride.
Cut to Tarrlok's rather spacious office at city hall. Korra bursts in through a window, saying that they need to talk. So Tarrlok sends his assistant away, but only after asking if any other council members are still around. He even gives a very Palpatine-esque "Leave us."
Korra tries to explain that Tarrlok is playing into Amon's hands, having benders oppress the non-benders by intimidating them. Tarrlok tries to throw this back at Korra, pointing out that she's trying intimidate him into compliance right now. He says that the willingness to go to extremes is something they have in common. Another Palpatine-esque line; the only reason I dismissed Tarrlok being Amon was that it was too obvious. Indeed, I imagine 90% of the reason for the mask is so that you can think Tarrlok's Amon.
Korra says that she's nothing like Tarrlok. He then offers Korra a deal: follow his orders and her friends go free. She's surprised that he arrested them just to get to her, but she refuses him. So he stands up and goes to the fountain behind him, saying that she'll regret that. Korra says that he's as bad as Amon and must be stopped. So Tarrlok attacks her.
Korra dodges and comes back with some earthbending that he avoids. She goes for flamethrowers, but the water fountain behind him nullifies that. Then he starts throwing dozens of ice shards at her, which she tries to dodge. She even punches some of them for some reason, getting cut in the process. Then she finally remembers that she can earthbend and shields herself from the onslaught. Then she earthbends behind him, pushing him through a wall and out into the main hall.
As he hanging above the floor, she looks down at him and says, "Still think I'm a half-baked Avatar?" When will people in the Avatar-verse learn that the place hates things like that? Korra earthbends him to the ground, then jumps down herself, destroying the room. Hurray for pointless property damage! She taunts him about the lack of water. Naturally being the Avatar-verse, he finds some.
Her body.
Yes, he's bloodbending. And apparently, the word's gotten out about that little trick, as Korra knows of it. But she points out that it's not a full moon. Tarrlok only says that there are many things she doesn't know about him. Yes, that he's a refugee from How I Became Yours. He flings Korra across the room, knocking her out.
She gets more Gaang flashbacks, this time a slightly clearer picture of what's going on. She wakes up in a truck, with Tarrlok standing just outside of. He tells her that she's going where nobody will ever find her. So, being all tied up, she firebreathes at him, nearly taking his head off. We exit with Tarrlok driving off with Korra, and we pan up to confirm that it's a crescent moon.
Not So Different
This is a weird episode, structurally. Elements of the second act in particular don't seem to flow naturally. Korra's feeling down after Tarrlok's ego-strike. So she and her friends decide to... cruise the city and beat up Equalists? I just don't understand how all this makes sense. If they wanted to fight Equalists, then they should have started investigating and looking for Equalists. They just drive around as though they're playing Grand Theft Republic City* and they'll just have a random encounter with Equalists. Which is exactly what happens.
The most radical swing is in Korra's behavior. Korra feels like a failed Avatar after mere words strike at her ego, but failing actual people doesn't seem to do anything except piss her off. This episode really feels like it was originally going to be two episodes, but they had to fuse them into one. The first episode being Korra forming her team and going out to do something to stop an Equalist plot. The second being the lead-in and eventual confrontation with Tarrlok. They don't compliment each other very well. They do a bit, but it just doesn't feel natural.
The anytime-bloodbending thing. Is it legitimate to be OK with it here, while lambasting How I Became Yours for that work's use? Sure, the original creators have providence, but if I'm going to be intellectually honest with myself, that doesn't give them special consideration over fanfiction with regard to what is or is not an appropriate addition to the work. Both must be judged equally, on their own merits. So how can I justify liking it in one place yet hating it in another?
Oh right, because it feels natural here. In the world of Korra, the writers have a consistent theme of having formerly unique abilities becoming more commonplace. As such, when you encounter a bloodbender who breaks the rules, it doesn't feel like a cheat. It feels natural, an extension of what has already been established. Unlike HIBY, where it comes right out of nowhere and exists for no adequately explained reason. If you want Katara to commit a grisly murder, she's a waterbender; having her drown someone requires no addition to her skill-set and is still quite grisly.
We'll also get something of a justification of why he has anytime bloodbending in the next episode. Indeed, anytime-bloodbending is integral to the plot of the series. Unlike HIBY, where it comes right out of nowhere and has no effect on anything beyond the scene where it happens.
Also, The Legend of Korra doesn't suck. That goes a long way towards justifying anything.
Given the number of times I steal quotes (and titles) from him, it's probably no surprise that I'm a big fan of SF Debris. Which naturally means I watched his review of The Legend of Korra. It was his usual good job. I bring this up because he paused in the middle of his coverage of this episode to deliver a pretty comprehensive beatdown to Tarrlok's idea that he and Korra aren't so different after all. There's just one problem.
He's wrong.
OK, he's not entirely wrong. But he seemed to have kinda missed something important in his rebuttal. His basic point is really simple and obvious: yes, both Tarrlok and Korra are going to extremes here. But she's only doing it because he's abusing his authority and not doing the job he was elected/selected/whatevered to do. She's there because she's supposed to be there; it's her duty as the Avatar.
The flaw is the implicit assumption that what Korra is doing is the only response to the situation. Korra's choices are not limited to "confront Tarrlok" or "let him do what he wants." There are a myriad of alternative ways to stop Tarrlok. Indeed, doing what she's doing? If Tarrlok weren't a villain in a kid's show, then her confronting him would accomplish nothing.
Tarrlok is a council member. Her attacking him and beating him up isn't going to change that. It's not like Korra can formally challenging his right to be a councilman in a Trial of Position. Unless she is willing to kill him (which admittedly, is an option that is likely very much in play for Korra, considering her temperament), physical intimidation accomplishes nothing.
Aang's defeat of Ozai would have done squat for the Fire Nation if not for two things. First, Ozai had already publicly vacated the Firelord-ship to Azula. By "defeating" Azula in an Agni Kai (we'll assume Zuko just told everyone he did it), Zuko gained some legitimacy in taking over the Firelord-ship. The other thing was that Ozai was then incarcerated, along with Azula (admittedly under Zuko's new-found authority). Thus, the only person who could make a legitimate claim to the throne, save Iroh who clearly was giving it up, was Zuko. Ultimately, Aang needed someone to assume political control over the Fire Nation in order for his coup to work.
Korra has none of that here. Beating up Tarrlok wouldn't change anything. After he healed up, he would still have his de jure power as a council member. He would still have control over Saikon, which is where most of his de facto power came from. And most important of all, he could have her arrested for assaulting him, since he controls the police. So fighting him gains Korra squat.
Now, I'm not saying that it is not in Korra's nature to do this. Indeed, that is exactly my point: this is what Korra and Tarrlok have in common. It's not merely that they're willing to go to extremes; every Avatar must on some level be willing to go to the mat to fix important problems. What they have in common is that they will go to extremes FIRST.
Amon starts a terror campaign against Republic City. So plan A for Tarrlok is to immediately remove rights from people and lock them up for protesting this. Plan A for Korra to stop Tarrlok is to go beat on Tarrlock for a while and hope that solves it.
Both Korra and Tarrlok confront any problem with the maximum amount of force they have available. Neither is interested in conducting a rational dialog or hearing anybody out (though that is as much enforced by the writers, as nobody ever seems to be willing to debate any issue at length. No, we need more time for horseshit Komedy!). They have their positions, and they will go to extremes at the first sign of trouble.
All Korra really needed to do is start thinking politically. Hold a press conference (she can do that, being the Avatar) and state that the council is wrong for passing this law. Say that Tarrlok is as much a threat to peace in Republic City as Amon because of his tactics. Maybe even tell the story of the woman who reminded her that Korra was their Avatar too. And then demand that the council repeal the law.
In short, Korra should have been ignoring Tarrlok entirely and focusing on the council, getting everyone else on her side and against him. Would it work? Maybe, maybe not. But it could have worked, which is a hell of a lot better than what Korra did. And while what she did ultimately does "work", it only does so because Tarrlok is a secret bloodbender, which is an illegal thing to use, and he gets exposed for kidnapping her eventually. As I said, if he weren't running on kid's show logic, he would have just taken the beating and ignored it.
Korra and Tarrlok have very different goals. One is selfless, while the other is trying to consolidate political power. But the means by which they achieve these goals are the same. They are different in desires, but alike in will.
Aang always looked for a non-violent solution and only resorted to violence as a last resort. Korra is always spoiling for a fight. Tarrlok is a tyrant primarily because of his methods. So when the Avatar, a being of supposed good, adopts the ways of tyranny... what does she become? Or are we saying that the ends justify the means?
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