I agree, this was one of the best episodes in the franchise as a whole. Though it seems to conflict with the "origins of bending" described in the previous series. Granted, we did have a call back to the true fire bending technique learned from dragons (Wan doing the dance that Aang and Zuko learned from the Sun warrior's temple).
What's wrong with wiping out darkness?
It's wrong because the whole idea of Yin and Yang is that one cannot exist without the other, and there is (generally - as with any ideology there are numerous variations) no inherent moral judgement attached to either. Both are natural, necessary, and complementary forces that exist in a balance, and all things contain aspects of both. This bothers some people because it's a further erosion of the Eastern spiritual influences that the show supposedly draws on to place such moral judgements on either side, making light "good" and dark "evil".
Indeed, in Taoist thought Yin (darkness) is NOT evil, unless you consider peace, women, water and shade to be evil. Yang (light), conversely, symbolises fire, agression and violence.
It seems a little premature to be making claims about the episode and Raava becoming fan favorites considering it's only been a couple days since the episode aired, but that aside, I agree on pretty much all counts. I think they kind of missed one opportunity, though; when Vaatu said that fighting him made him stronger, my immediate thought was that Wan was going to have to stop fighting him, and instead embrace him, and internalize both Raava and Vaatu, which would also have been more fitting of the balance theme.
That aside, a great episode. I particularly enjoyed the stylization of the landscapes that looked like traditional Asian paintings and the more overt Miyazaki shout outs, since I also got a heavy Miyazaki vibe from the season premier.
What matters in this life is much more than winning for ourselves. What really matters is helping others win, too. - F. Rogers.
This pretty well sums up my feelings on the stupidity of the "balance between good and evil" concept; there is no such balance. If you want to do a story about "restoring the balance", then make it about something other than good and evil.
To be fair, Raava did say that Vaatu cannot be destroyed. Despite having no redeemable qualities, they do represent a balance.
I wouldn't really call that "balance", though. It's just that one force can't completely destroy the other. It's kind of cheat-y really. It's a "balance" that we don't actually have to be conscious of or do anything about, it just sort of is.
The whole thing reminds me of Star Wars with all their talk of "bringing balance to the force", and by that of course we mean wiping out the dark side guys.
And the avatar music is back! So amazing.
Yeah good/evil balance is stupid. Yin and Yang make more sense as the implication there is always a bit of good in any evil and vice versa.
@Wryte I love your idea, and that would have been very interesting.
Best.Episode.Ever
@Wryte. I had the same idea.
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Beginnings
A special like no other, Beginnings Part1 & 2 are considered by many to be quite possibly the best episodes of not only Korra, but the Avatar series as a whole. I'm hardly pressed to contest this, considering that it not only features suberb animation and voice acting, but also amazing character development. Wan manages to grow as a man far faster than Aang or Korra did in their whole series, developing from an cunning though well meaning thief to a sorrowful, tragic hero that spend most of his life trying to atone for his mistakes. Alongside him are a cast of colourful characters that manage to be unique and powerful in their own way, some of which with as little as a few minutes of screen time. Equally as important is the atmosphere, which blends the feeling of the more epic episodes of both series, while not failing to acquire the awe inspiring reverence of asian mythology.
Some points of interess:
- The spirit designs and ideas are rather insanely amazing. Even with this light/dark dichotomy, "non-dark" spirits manage to come across as alien, capricious beings not unlike fae, albeit still reasonable and amicable. The designs owe much to Ghibhli movies, in a big love letter to Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, while still getting away with more unique designs, like flying plant jellyfish and an aye-aye spirit. The light and dark spirits themselves resemble not-very-stylised flatworms, probably the last animal you'd expect to connect with cosmical forces.
- Although I dislike the fact that the neutral Dark Is Not Evil and Light Is Not Good nature of Yin and Yang has been butchered - please, just shut up about the "balance" and admit you think darkness should be wiped out, it's embarassing -, Raava as a character is so strong that she has rightfully become a fan favourite, and indeed her tale with Wan is a very heartwarming one. Vaatu is just a generic villain, though.
- There's some confusion in regards to how bending came to be, and the current expanation, that lion turtles gave it and that animals simply teached the techniques, removes the spirituality of the original series, but the idea of the lion turtles being the protectors of mankind is appealing and makes their demise more depressing.
- I enjoy the subtle parallel to the Promethus myth in Wan's story.