Legend of Korra,Season 3 is on GOGOAnime.

[138 Scourge]

I saw the First 4 episodes of Season 4 last week on gogoanime.com. Thought they were okay. Episode 5 airs this friday. Have high hopes this series will end spectacular and epic.

You and me both, Tig. I'm enjoying the new season, but I'd really like it to end on a happier note than it started on.

[BWprowl]

Given that this is the final season we're talking about, we can reasonably expect Korra's journey to end on a triumphant high note, and can assume the major downer of a beginning to this season was deliberate, to contrast that.

I liked it, myself. I know the episode was probably pretty much ready to go before the decision to go online-only was made, but I still feel like we normally wouldn't get something like 'Korra Alone' on regular kids' TV. Great stuff. Of course, we're so starved for serious action cartoons on television these days that it could just be because of a total lack of anything to contrast against.

My only major complaint was how painfully obvious it was from the start that Kuvira Was The Bad Guy, but this series has always kind of sucked at that (Unalaq from Book 2 comes to mind), so it's not that big a deal, I guess.

Somehow, Toph managed to be the best character in two different Avatar shows.

[Sparky Prime]

Given that this is the final season we're talking about, we can reasonably expect Korra's journey to end on a triumphant high note, and can assume the major downer of a beginning to this season was deliberate, to contrast that.

I'd have to agree, I can't see them ending this series anyway but triumphant. And things have already begun to turn around with Toph helping Korra learn she still has mercury in her system and teaching her how to remove it.

[Sparky Prime]

Wow, what a finale. Great way to end the show. I think it showed just how much Korra has grown, and how much the world has changed as a result of so many of her actions during the series. I liked that they really acknowledge just how much Korra has changed things with Tenzin saying she'd changed the world more than most Avatar's had in their entire lifetimes. Speaking of, I had hoped she would

Spoiler

reconnect with her past lives again, and when she entered the Spirit World through the new Spirit Portal I thought she was about to, but I guess she really is the first Avatar in a new cycle

. Kind of a surprise at the very end there. Kudos to the creators for that. I really hope we see the Avatar universe return to tv some day. It would be great to see the next Avatar in the cycle and learn what these characters did later on, like we did for Aang and his friends in this show. Sad to see it go, they really tell some good and interesting stories.

[BWprowl]

Speaking of, I had hoped she would

Spoiler

reconnect with her past lives again, and when she entered the Spirit World through the new Spirit Portal I thought she was about to, but I guess she really is the first Avatar in a new cycle

.

The series, especially for the last couple seasons, as well as the comics they've put out concurrently, have heavily been pushing the idea of "Things have changed and they aren't changing back. Accept it and keep moving forward". Giving Korra her past lives back would have run counter to that, especially since her losing them and having to start making decisions based on her own experiences and assistance from her allies was a major point of her character development. I'm glad they didn't go back on it.

Also really like that the aforementioned character development and Korra's experiences were what were ultimately instrumental in her finally finishing the fight with Kuvira. Loved, absolutely loved, that she was able to talk her down in the end. It greatly illustrated the growth of Korra as a character, as well as of Bryan and Michael as writers (in my opinion really making up for the missteps they made with Ozai's handling at the end of ATLA). Thematically, that was a perfect end to the final conflict of the series.

As many misgivings as I've had about how Kuvira's been handled as a character, in the end they used her very well in telling the story they wanted to.

Kind of a surprise at the very end there. Kudos to the creators for that.

I've been a pretty big fan of the potential of a Korra/Asami relationship since they first started dropping hints and developing it back in Book 3. There's a big difference though, between wanting something to happen and actually believing it will happen, and I can say that I honestly never actually expected them to end the show the way they did. That was big.

[Sparky Prime]

Giving Korra her past lives back would have run counter to that, especially since her losing them and having to start making decisions based on her own experiences and assistance from her allies was a major point of her character development. I'm glad they didn't go back on it.

Korra had trouble connecting with her past lives to begin with though. She essentially had just learned how to connect with them just to loose that connection. She's always had to rely on her own experiences and allies. But I found one of the most interesting parts of the series to be learning about Wan, and the origins of the Avatar and bending. I think it's a shame they decided to end that cycle, because it could lead to some interesting storylines in and of itself like that. And just because the Avatar has those past lives doesn't mean they can't still come to their own decisions. Look at how Aang dealt with Ozai, despite his own past lives telling him to kill him. Instead he found another solution in keeping to his own beliefs.

[BWprowl]

Giving Korra her past lives back would have run counter to that, especially since her losing them and having to start making decisions based on her own experiences and assistance from her allies was a major point of her character development. I'm glad they didn't go back on it.

Korra had trouble connecting with her past lives to begin with though. She essentially had just learned how to connect with them just to loose that connection. She's always had to rely on her own experiences and allies. But I found one of the most interesting parts of the series to be learning about Wan, and the origins of the Avatar and bending.

Her getting that flashback gives her her own spin on it though. She's still aware of Wan, the reincarnation aspect, and Raava and all that entails, and that's shown to affect her Avatar-ing throughout the seasons after she loses the ability to connect with her past lives.

This thing you brought up about how she always had trouble connecting with her past lives though, that's actually a good point in that it reinforces that Korra did better when she wasn't trying to be beholden TO her past lives and instead worked forward in the present to make her own decisions. Having to let go of those was a major part of her growth.

However, I will concede that now that she HAS finally learned compassion, and how to move forward in the world on her own judgment, seeing how she would interact with the past lives of the Avatar COULD work as a story concept. But hey, stuff like that could be what comics are for (are Korra's past lives the new Zuko's mom?).

I think it's a shame they decided to end that cycle, because it could lead to some interesting storylines in and of itself like that.

One thing I am curious about (and maybe they did explicitly define it earlier and I just missed it), but is the ability to connect to past lives just *gone* for the Avatar, or did it simply have to 'start over' with Korra after Raava got put back in her? In that respect, it might be worthwhile for a hypothetical new series to skip forward a few cycles to establish the next few 'new' Avatars, though a story immediately after this cycle with Korra having to act as the sole advisor to a new Earthbender Avatar could be interesting as well.

And just because the Avatar has those past lives doesn't mean they can't still come to their own decisions. Look at how Aang dealt with Ozai, despite his own past lives telling him to kill him. Instead he found another solution in keeping to his own beliefs.

Not discounting what Aang did (for the most part, 'Sozin's Comet' was one hell of a finale), but he basically just hemmed and hawed and couldn't come up with a decision until the Lion-Turtle showed up out of nowhere at the last minute and just handed him an option that we didn't even know existed until that point. I like the story-point of Aang having to stick to his unique beliefs and principles within the situations of the series, but as I said, the writing didn't quite carry that point at the end of the show ('The Promise' and 'The Rift' in the comics, to their credit, showed it off a lot better).

[Tigermegatron]

Regarding the ending final scene. I got the Impression that Korra and Asami both became lovers, started dating and possibly got married. As they both went on a romantic vacaction into the sprit world, held hands and looked into each others eyes deeply with love at the end. Because the cartoon was meant for kids and adults, Think the writers couldn't have Korra and Asami say, I love you and then deeply kiss each other. Think there was enough hints there for adults to come to the conclusion that Korra and Asami became lovers at the end.

[Sparky Prime]

Her getting that flashback gives her her own spin on it though. She's still aware of Wan, the reincarnation aspect, and Raava and all that entails, and that's shown to affect her Avatar-ing throughout the seasons after she loses the ability to connect with her past lives.

How'd it give Korra her own spin on it? She only saw the events as Wan remembered to fill her in about what was going on in the present day. She still made her own decision about what to do about it knowing the the threat Vaatu was, and then having questioned if what Wan did to seperate the worlds was the right choice in the first place. Loosing that connection didn't really seem to affect her that much because she didn't have it for very long to become a big influence on her. She never relyed on it for help like Aang did.

This thing you brought up about how she always had trouble connecting with her past lives though, that's actually a good point in that it reinforces that Korra did better when she wasn't trying to be beholden TO her past lives and instead worked forward in the present to make her own decisions. Having to let go of those was a major part of her growth.

I don't agree that Korra ever was trying to beholden to her past lives. She never communed with her past lives, aside from learning energy bending from Aang and a history lesson from Wan, to really have any input from them. She always made her own choices, because she never really had any input from her past lives in that respect.

One thing I am curious about (and maybe they did explicitly define it earlier and I just missed it), but is the ability to connect to past lives just *gone* for the Avatar, or did it simply have to 'start over' with Korra after Raava got put back in her? In that respect, it might be worthwhile for a hypothetical new series to skip forward a few cycles to establish the next few 'new' Avatars, though a story immediately after this cycle with Korra having to act as the sole advisor to a new Earthbender Avatar could be interesting as well.

I don't think the show was really explicit in explaining what happened. The impression I got is that they basically restarted with Korra as the first Avatar in a new cycle. But then Korra didn't seem sure if her past lives were gone forever or not.

Not discounting what Aang did (for the most part, 'Sozin's Comet' was one hell of a finale), but he basically just hemmed and hawed and couldn't come up with a decision until the Lion-Turtle showed up out of nowhere at the last minute and just handed him an option that we didn't even know existed until that point. I like the story-point of Aang having to stick to his unique beliefs and principles within the situations of the series, but as I said, the writing didn't quite carry that point at the end of the show ('The Promise' and 'The Rift' in the comics, to their credit, showed it off a lot better).

I wouldn't say Aang "hemmed and hawed" over the decision. He was dead set against about having to kill Ozai, and was looking for any other options. Which he finally found thanks to the Lionturtle, which is an animal that had been hinted at existing throughout the series. There was some build up to it at least even if energy bending was something introduced at the last minute.

[BWprowl]

Regarding the ending final scene. I got the Impression that Korra and Asami both became lovers, started dating and possibly got married. As they both went on a romantic vacaction into the sprit world, held hands and looked into each others eyes deeply with love at the end. Because the cartoon was meant for kids and adults, Think the writers couldn't have Korra and Asami say, I love you and then deeply kiss each other. Think there was enough hints there for adults to come to the conclusion that Korra and Asami became lovers at the end.

http://mikedimartinostory.com/2014/12/2 ... confirmed/
http://bryankonietzko.tumblr.com/post/1 ... it-embrace

You can rest easy, Tig.