Avatar: The Legend of Korra – Book Four – Balance [S4] E01

So… Kuvira… I had a feeling she wasn’t going to turn out to be Team Avatar material. And I had a feeling she was going to tear things apart from the inside out. She was too eager in her spotlight appearance in Book Three, rather, the spotlight appearance called too much attention to her so her offer to go along seemed to reek of ulterior motive. This is only the first episode, so my previous suspicion that she might be an undercover Red Lotus hasn’t been disproved, but she’s trying to unite people under her (and not a nation) and the red lotus were anarchists–against any sort of leadership or governing body–so it isn’t likely.

Beifong family drama still going, but now it’s trickled down to the current generation of siblings. I’m assuming the betrayal Opal spoke of is connected to Kuriva usurping Su’s command and and taking over her people and resources. Or something like that. However, the animosity seems to be coming from a more personal place because I don’t think Bolin and Opal’s brother would be working with Kuvira if she really did Su dirty. Or perhaps it’s one of those things where she really did stab Su in the back, but it can’t be completely proven, so it comes off looking like a difference of opinions and what should be water under the bridge after three years.

While I’m at it, It was strange to see Lin meekly or hesitantly delivering the bad news to Mako. Not that she shouldn’t care and ignore his feelings for the sake of duty and all that, but it was just a strange combination of mannerisms coming from her.

Even if there is some twist where Kuvira, her army, and her votaries turn out not to be the second coming of the Fire Nation (however conquering without noticeable destructive force, just threats and fearmongering), she still can’t be good if for no other reason than the fact that Bolin is following her. I don’t think I even have to explain this point.

It’s been three years and Korra seems to be as selfish as ever. But now she’s glistening with the added sheen of deplorableness. She continues to show people just how much their trust and concern means to her. Way to go!

Korra’s not back to fighting form yet. So, about that, zeusaurus and I were talking about the show and I told him that I didn’t think that Korra had mastered any of the elements. From what I saw, too many of her contemporaries were better than she was out of the avatar state. I’m not saying she was unskilled, but outside of the basics, personally, I think she battled like a mad dog. If you remove the fact that she was also being poisoned at the time, her final fight with Zaheer was very similar to how she usually fought: reckless, chaotic, and frenzied. It seemed purely on instinct, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Also, even though the avatar state is basically a power-up, I don’t think it was as powerful for her as it could have been because she didn’t have the historic/spiritual connection that the previous avatars did. And now shes even more of a mess. I was hoping that with the three-year jump, we would be skipping over her transformation and only seeing it in flashback or reference. Because I didn’t want the whole book to be about her renaissance with only a little bit at the end of her putting it in practice, but now that I see that she’s just as bad as she was, if not worse, I have very little hope for an avatar-worthy Korra arc.