Epic LOK Book 1 Finale: Your Thoughts?

[EndangeredOptimist]

Very curious to know what everyone thought of the LOK Book 1 Finale?

[KillerTomate]

It was total "CRAP". On this post i will go through a list of roughly 10 reasons why it SUCKED ASS!!!!!
1. What the Fuck Amon is Tarlok's Brother. That is utter bullshit. Why couldn't Amon be someone from the fuckin previous series, or is that to much to ask. Now this is just a minor gripe but how the hell was anybody supposed to guess that Tarlok had a brother. I mean all this hype about who is Amon, I thought it was going to be someone from the previous serious so that they could drop clues about amon and you could go rewatch Avatar the legend of Ang and figure out who he was. I was convinced that Amon was one of the Freedom Fighters by some of the clues they dropped but no he was fucking Tarlok's Brother.

2. They got rid of any Promblems Facing Korra in Season 2. By the end of the episode Amon supposedly dies and Korra gets all her fucking bending back. What kind of Crap ending is that. You have to leave some lose ends otherwise whats the point of having a season two. I mean they could have gone plenty of ways with it. Season 2 could have been about Korra getting her bending back but no they had to do some stupid shit with her entering the Avatar state and wala everything is fixed. WHAT THE FUCK. THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING STOPPING HERE NOW. SHE CAN JUST ENTER AVATAR STATE AND FIX FUCKING EVERYTHING. This once again gets rid of all conflict Korra could of faced in season two. Also to just tie up another lose end Korra and Mako are together now....... sigh do they know how to create suspence at all. THEY GOT RID OF FUCKING EVERY LOSE END.(except for 1 explained later.)

3.Iroh is somehow a firebending God. What fucking bullshit he is like the human torch from the fantastic four. The part where he uses bending to fly is fucking the same thing the human torch does. Also to make matters worse why was he not doing that shit when they got attacked with planes the first time. And don't give me no shit about how they got surprise attacked so he was in shock and didn't know what to do. If he can fucking fly with fire im pretty sure he can kick those planes asses surprise attack or not. Do I need to say anything else on the subject...... the answer is fucking no.

4.Nagga became a fucking bad ass bear for no fucking reason. What the hell. First of all how did Bolin, Asami, and Iroh get captured but not Nagga. What the fuck happened why didn't we get to see that fight scene. Did Nagga decide to not help them fight that time, and how did they getting fucking captured when Iroh is the fucking human torch, but i getting off track. I was just pissed off when Nagga single handedly neutralizes the mech when it kicked Korra and her friend's asses earlier. Since when was Nagga a supper fighting beast.

5. Why would the Equalist fucking care if Amon was a Bender. So what he didn't tell them the truth, he's still doing what they want by getting rid of all benders. Why would they fucking want to turn on him when he's forwarding their agenda. It makes no fucking sense.

6.Why would Korra go to confront Amon after learning from Tarlok that he is a blood bender. I mean how fucking stupid do you have to be to know to avoid a blood bender. What should of happened is that Korra should have gone back and told her friends to call of the invasion. Then she could learn blood bending in secret from Katara and finally have an epic battle with Amon at the end of season two when she could finally somewhat resist Amon's bloodbending by bending her own blood.

7. The only hope for a story in season two is that Asami stabs everyone in the back by becoming a equalist and joining up with her father. That is the only loose end they didn't tie up is the fact that we haven't seen Asami's reaction to Makko being with Korra. Will she seek revenge...... After watching this fucking atrocious ending i don't think she will.

So there's some of the reason's why the Finale sucked monkey balls. It wasn't quite ten but I've got better things to do. I pray to god that I'm not the only one disappointed with the finale.

[dontevenworryaboutit]

the finale was flawless. and I did a huge "THANK THE LORD WE DIDN'T HAVE TO 2 YEARS TO SEE KORRA GET HER BENDING BACK!" and Lin got her bending back. happy rainbows all around.

[KillerTomate]

Happy rainbows all around is right that is why the finale sucked they didn't leave any conflicts unresolved for season 2

[vinnybonboot]

I'm not sure that some people realize that LOK isn't laid out the same way as ATLA in regards to the story.

In ATLA, the entire series was one long story, which each season being another part of the story. As amazing as the story was, it still limits the show. Once the story is over, the series is over. In LOK, however, each season is simply going to be its own story, with the following season a completely separate story from the last (with the exception to a few detail, maybe). This gives so much more freedom to the writers, allowing them to continue the show for much longer than ATLA. Because of this, we can assume that season 2 will simply be a separate story for season 1. It will have it's own conflict that Korra and Team Avatar will have to solve. This answers your questions as to why they didn't leave any room to continue the story next season; the story just won't be continued.

As of now, we know that LOK is only supposed to last one more season until the series is over. However, it was also previously thought that the series was only going to be 1 season to begin with until they bought another 12 episodes worth. It's likely that they may extend the series another few seasons after this, especially because of the great reception the show has been getting, and because of my previous point of each season being its own separate story.

[Akiraka_Mizu]

Okay, So Awesome! First ... I somehow knew Korra would be able to give bending back to people. I mean hey, if Avatar Aang learned how to take bending away ... then I knew there would some how be a way for Avatar Korra to give it back. It has to go both ways right?
Finally we get the REAL back story on Amon aka Nowatak (don't know how to spell). With the way this whole show has been panning out, we all knew (or at least I hope) that he had to be connected to the story and characters some how. But that was a great secret. I sure as hell didn't see it coming. Not only a bender but a blood bender? We still don't know how he takes peoples bending away, well it has something to do with blood bending.

You know with all due respect, Even though there seem to be no lose ends (Tarlock exploding the boat with him and his brother, MIGHT NOT have KILLED THEM) I actually like that. Even though Korra and Mako are "officially" together, what about Asami, and Bolin ... and General Iroh! I mean I, for god sakes, want to see some happy love, some way, with those characters.

In ATLA, the entire series was one long story, which each season being another part of the story. As amazing as the story was, it still limits the show. Once the story is over, the series is over. In LOK, however, each season is simply going to be its own story, with the following season a completely separate story from the last (with the exception to a few detail, maybe). This gives so much more freedom to the writers, allowing them to continue the show for much longer than ATLA. Because of this, we can assume that season 2 will simply be a separate story for season 1. It will have it's own conflict that Korra and Team Avatar will have to solve. This answers your questions as to why they didn't leave any room to continue the story next season; the story just won't be continued

Yes I agree with this somewhat. And it in many ways goes with the condensing of this show. And rather then with ATLA where they were going to stop at season three, they are leaving more wriggle room for more seasons, if they so wish.The second season could be a different story, but they could tie it somehow to this one.
And who knows maybe Korra will find, like giving and taking bending away, some other secret Avatar bending power!

[EndangeredOptimist]

It was total "CRAP". On this post i will go through a list of roughly 10 reasons why it SUCKED ASS!!!!!
1. What the Fuck Amon is Tarlok's Brother. That is utter bullshit. Why couldn't Amon be someone from the fuckin previous series, or is that to much to ask. Now this is just a minor gripe but how the hell was anybody supposed to guess that Tarlok had a brother. I mean all this hype about who is Amon, I thought it was going to be someone from the previous serious so that they could drop clues about amon and you could go rewatch Avatar the legend of Ang and figure out who he was. I was convinced that Amon was one of the Freedom Fighters by some of the clues they dropped but no he was fucking Tarlok's Brother.

Rebuttal: Why was anyone supposed to guess that Tarrlok was Amon's brother? It's a huge plot twist. Mike and Bryan have done that numerous times in ATLA, e.g., Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Zuko were discovered to be blood kin. ATLA and LOK are two totally different storylines. While there are similarities and the creators do dip into ATLA occasionally, there are also huge differences and rightly so--this is Korra's story of her Avatar journey--but storylines do both exist within the Avatar Universe.

2. They got rid of any Promblems Facing Korra in Season 2. By the end of the episode Amon supposedly dies and Korra gets all her fucking bending back. What kind of Crap ending is that. You have to leave some lose ends otherwise whats the point of having a season two. I mean they could have gone plenty of ways with it. Season 2 could have been about Korra getting her bending back but no they had to do some stupid shit with her entering the Avatar state and wala everything is fixed. WHAT THE FUCK. THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING STOPPING HERE NOW. SHE CAN JUST ENTER AVATAR STATE AND FIX FUCKING EVERYTHING. This once again gets rid of all conflict Korra could of faced in season two. Also to just tie up another lose end Korra and Mako are together now....... sigh do they know how to create suspence at all. THEY GOT RID OF FUCKING EVERY LOSE END.(except for 1 explained later.)

Rebuttal: Mike and Bryan both said they wanted to offer viewers complete story arcs, which have a beginning and definitive end in each season. Part of the reason for that is that Mike and Bryan only have a Book 2 commitment from Nickelodeon. Meaning they are not yet 110 percent certain there will be a Book 3, not yet anyway. It makes sense they wanted to a completed story for Book 1 when you think of it in that regard. They are giving us a finalized story just in case (delete) there is no more story to tell. Secondly, when have you ever seen Mike and Bryan run out of things for characters to do or struggles for them to face? lol Yes, Korra made HUGE strides in Book 1. She is a fully realized Avatar, with the exception that she needs to perfect her newly acquired airbending. And just because Korra and Mako confessed their love for one another doesn't mean they're going to get married in Book 2 and start making babies. lol It's a little more complicated than that. There's tons of suspense for Book 2. Why? Because now that, as you stated, everything's been wrapped up, it leaves us with burning questions, most notably, what will Korra & the Krew do next?

3.Iroh is somehow a firebending God. What fucking bullshit he is like the human torch from the fantastic four. The part where he uses bending to fly is fucking the same thing the human torch does. Also to make matters worse why was he not doing that shit when they got attacked with planes the first time. And don't give me no shit about how they got surprise attacked so he was in shock and didn't know what to do. If he can fucking fly with fire im pretty sure he can kick those planes asses surprise attack or not. Do I need to say anything else on the subject...... the answer is fucking no.

Rebuttal: Iroh is the general of the United Forces. He better sure as hell know how to kick some firebending ass when necessary. He may be young and sexyfine, lol, but I'm sure he had to prove himself to EARN his position as general. Add to that his grandfather is Fire Lord Zuko. He's the great grand-nephew of the Dragon of the West. Somehow it seems difficult to see him working part-time serving tea to customers in Ba Sing Se. As to why he didn't go Johnny Storm as soon as he saw the planes, I don't know. But I thought climbing in and out and planes, single-handedly taking them out and free-falling without the benefit of a parachute was pretty f-ing amazing. lol

4.Nagga became a fucking bad ass bear for no fucking reason. What the hell. First of all how did Bolin, Asami, and Iroh get captured but not Nagga. What the fuck happened why didn't we get to see that fight scene. Did Nagga decide to not help them fight that time, and how did they getting fucking captured when Iroh is the fucking human torch, but i getting off track. I was just pissed off when Nagga single handedly neutralizes the mech when it kicked Korra and her friend's asses earlier. Since when was Nagga a supper fighting beast.

Rebuttal: Naga protected Asami, Bolin and Iroh just as Appa protected Aang, Sokka, Katara and Toph numerous times in ATLA. No big surprise there. Remember Bolin told Naga and Pabu to 'stay' before they approached the airstrip. Naga later disregarded that 'order' and rescued them in time for them to destroy the airfield. They were captured because they were inadvertently electrocuted in an invisible fence. Asami asks, "Why are there fence posts, but no fence?" Dude, did you even watch the finale? Just sayin' lol Appa didn't fight and win every single battle he participated in either. Cue the sandbenders in ATLA.

5. Why would the Equalist fucking care if Amon was a Bender. So what he didn't tell them the truth, he's still doing what they want by getting rid of all benders. Why would they fucking want to turn on him when he's forwarding their agenda. It makes no fucking sense.

Rebuttal: Why would the Equalists care if Amon was a bender? Seriously? Well...because it's the core and crux of their entire movement. "Benders are the root of all evil." "Benders subjugate and terrorize non-benders." "We want equality and an end to all bending tyranny." The one sure way to end the tyranny is to end all bending, at least that's how the Equalists see it. It makes perfect sense why they would turn on Amon/Noatak after discovering he was a waterbender and a bloodbender. He was their hero, their leader. They trusted him and he betrayed them by turning out to be 'one of them.'

6.Why would Korra go to confront Amon after learning from Tarlok that he is a blood bender. I mean how fucking stupid do you have to be to know to avoid a blood bender. What should of happened is that Korra should have gone back and told her friends to call of the invasion. Then she could learn blood bending in secret from Katara and finally have an epic battle with Amon at the end of season two when she could finally somewhat resist Amon's bloodbending by bending her own blood.

Rebuttal: As it turns out she did IN FACT have a rather epic battle with Amon, lol, bloodbending or not. She answered your question in the finale, "My instincts are telling me I need to end this now." General Iroh said he trusted in the Avatar's instincts just as his grandfather, Fire Lord Zuko, did with Avatar Aang. Somehow it seems slightly unnecessary for the Avatar to acquire the dark art of bloodbending, given the fact that the Avatar has the 'Avatar State' to rely on as special defense mechanism--just as Avatar Aang did when fighting Yakone. If Korra had not confronted Amon/Noatak as her 'instincts' had led her to do, she would have never had all her bending abilities taken away. In subduing these powers, her innate airbending abilities finally had a chance to breathe and open--something Korra couldn't attain on her own. Amon/Noatak, while exercising evil, actually helped Korra tremendously. Thus the reason why she was led to confront him on 'her terms.'

7. The only hope for a story in season two is that Asami stabs everyone in the back by becoming a equalist and joining up with her father. That is the only loose end they didn't tie up is the fact that we haven't seen Asami's reaction to Makko being with Korra. Will she seek revenge...... After watching this fucking atrocious ending i don't think she will.

Rebuttal: She may very well seek revenge. Who knows? There's your lingering plot question to pull you into Book 2, albeit kicking and screaming. lol Asami has said she 'likes' Korra. And it's not as if Korra and Mako coming together would come as any big shock to her. She's suspected their affection and feelings for one another for the last few episodes. But as to whether she will rejoin her father and exact her revenge on Korra & the Krew...Hmm? It may be that much to the joy and delight of many fans she turns her attention to the sexyfine firebending badass General Iroh instead. lol

So there's some of the reason's why the Finale sucked monkey balls. It wasn't quite ten but I've got better things to do. I pray to god that I'm not the only one disappointed with the finale.

Rebuttal: Every Avatar fan is entitled to their opinion. To quote Bryan Konietzko, "...And the fandom hugged it out.." lol Personally I absolutely LOVED the finale. Tarrlok's murder/suicide was hauntingly chilling. The fact that Tenzin and his family were captured and were about to have their airbending taken away was an absolute 'OMFG' fan moment. Avatar Aang's arrival from the spirit world just in the nick of time with Avatar Roku, Avatar Kyoshi, Avatar Kuruk and Avatar Yangchen, et al, in tow, was exquisitely beautiful. Avatar Aang: "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." Mike and Bryan delivered as per usual. Can't wait for LOK Book 2!

[EndangeredOptimist]

I'm not sure that some people realize that LOK isn't laid out the same way as ATLA in regards to the story.

In ATLA, the entire series was one long story, which each season being another part of the story. As amazing as the story was, it still limits the show. Once the story is over, the series is over. In LOK, however, each season is simply going to be its own story, with the following season a completely separate story from the last (with the exception to a few detail, maybe). This gives so much more freedom to the writers, allowing them to continue the show for much longer than ATLA. Because of this, we can assume that season 2 will simply be a separate story for season 1. It will have it's own conflict that Korra and Team Avatar will have to solve. This answers your questions as to why they didn't leave any room to continue the story next season; the story just won't be continued.

As of now, we know that LOK is only supposed to last one more season until the series is over. However, it was also previously thought that the series was only going to be 1 season to begin with until they bought another 12 episodes worth. It's likely that they may extend the series another few seasons after this, especially because of the great reception the show has been getting, and because of my previous point of each season being its own separate story.

Sorry for the double-post, but VBB is absolutely right.

[eon1g]

"1. What the Fuck Amon is Tarlok's Brother. That is utter bullshit. Why couldn't Amon be someone from the fuckin previous series, or is that to much to ask. Now this is just a minor gripe but how the hell was anybody supposed to guess that Tarlok had a brother. I mean all this hype about who is Amon, I thought it was going to be someone from the previous serious so that they could drop clues about amon and you could go rewatch Avatar the legend of Ang and figure out who he was. I was convinced that Amon was one of the Freedom Fighters by some of the clues they dropped but no he was fucking Tarlok's Brother."

You mean like the whole Aang attempting to warn Korra about Yakone... Korra just mistook it as Aang trying to warn her about Tarlok. If you were able to think past "Hurrr I want him to be from the last series!!!" you'd see that that was one of the biggest clues as to who he was. On a side note, a lot of people thought Amon was Yakone which I kind of liked the idea of, turns out he wasn't but, hey still a pretty good twist if you ask me.

[Tiny]

I didn't like it much. I thought it had the same feeling as the rest of the series - rushed, cursory, and flat. I'm going to bullet my ideas with some elaboration to save us all a bit of sanity.

1. The character development was completely discarded. Korra's final development was explained in the "we are open to the greatest change when we hit our lowest point" line. Korra didn't struggle with her new situation, adapt to it at all. An easy solution was handed to her, and right in the middle of her actually sitting down for a moment and thinking rather than acting. Aang is right, when a character is broken and beaten, they are open to the greatest change. But we weren't shown this in Korra - we were simply told. We were TOLD that she had become more spiritual. But few of her actions actually support that. We were TOLD that she had become a full avatar - and yet, the only time we see the feeling of confidence, competence, and peace that we've seen in the other avatars is after her encounter with Aang. It would have been significantly more powerful if they were given maybe ONE more episode, where Korra comes to terms with what happened, THEN Aang showed up. Then a lesson was learned, then she would have adapted and changed. But this is just a sad deux-ex-machina so that the series could be sewn up prettily.

2. Bending Superiority - This is my greatest frustration with the series, especially by the end. What was actually a GREAT idea, a GREAT set-up was diluted in the end to the Who Is Amon And How Can We Beat Him show (more on Amon later). The writers had a chance to make heavy and universal political commentary, or at the very least, had the chance to examine a big aspect of their world. As I've said numerous times before, the Equalists have valid complaints. There is a reason why they got such support. And we see that addressed very few times (the one that comes to mind first is when Tarrlok decided to initiate the curfew - which AGAIN could have been a very powerful moment, especially with the woman appealing to Korra as "[her] Avatar, too." But again, that was sacrificed so that the plot could be furthered more quickly) but never really examined in depth. At the very end, the show became entirely about beating Amon, rather than understanding the complaints of these people or coming to an agreement or actually even putting down the rebellion. We are expected as an audience to believe that it died out with Amon's revealing. But let's be honest - people aren't going to slink back into their houses, tail between legs, even when the charismatic leader has been dethroned. We aren't even shown any of this! We just see Korra in the South Pole! The Equalists and Nonbenders had valid complaints and a powerful movement and it was entirely discarded for the sake of beating Amon, then never addressed again.
Further, I'm very unhappy with the way that Korra's personal feelings on the subject were handled. She lost 3/4 of her bending (nevermind that she could actually bend air now - a huge feat that wasn't talked about AT ALL in light of her being debent) and suddenly, she didn't feel like the Avatar anymore. People even SUPPORTED this viewpoint, and the whole focus was on gaining her bending back so she could be an Avatar again. As I said before, she doesn't have to confront this. She doesn't have to construct a new self-image without her bending. And ultimately, it's just supported that Bending is Best and that if you are born a bender it is an innate part of your personality.

3. Makorra. Oh god, oh god, so rushed! Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the pairing itself. But the way it was done (especially with the Asami-love-triangle) made no sense! Why did Mako suddenly fall in love with her? Do you fall in love with someone because you fought alongside them? Yes, they went through a LOT of trauma together. But they haven't even known each other for a month, they've barely constructively talked, and we're expected to believe that this is TRUE ENDGAME LOVE without being shown any true bonding. Every moment where Mako cared about Korra was entirely forced and out of place. While Korra's crush on Mako makes sense, we see little of that after the kiss. We see her embarrassment at having been outed to a romantic rival, but little more. And suddenly, we're expected to believe that she loves him. ESPECIALLY after the end interaction. This only acts to bolster the Bending is Best attitude. Korra WAS broken and angry and the way she heals is by being independent. But moreso, she pushed Mako away because she didn't feel worthy of being loved without her bending - without who she was. And well, that makes sense a bit. But then suddenly she regains bending (AND MAKO DISRESPECTED HER NEEDS AND WAS SUDDENLY THERE DESPITE HER REQUEST TO BE ALONE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME.) and she can ~love Mako~ because she's a whole person now and everything's right with the world. TL;DR: The pairing was rushed, stomped on all other character relationships, took control of most dialogue in the series, and its endgame was forced and inorganic.

4. Asami's treatment. This is a STRONG woman. No, Mako, Asami is the bravest, kindest, most loyal and selfless person you've ever met. I could spend DAYS extolling her virtues. But she isn't given any credit. At all. And then further, even through all the relationship trouble, even through all of the anger on her part and the hurting, all we see of the Masami relationship is a /hug/. And then at the finale, Mako expresses his love to Korra and they kiss. ---- Wait. What about Asami. WAIT WHAT? That means either something happened off-screen and we're expected to just take it for granted that Mako isn't in a relationship anymore, or Korra is knowingly kissing a boy who has a girlfriend. Asami could have been such a bro, such a friend to Korra, and such a strong player. And as a non-bender (whose father was an Equalist, for god's sake), she is in the best position to point out the bending superiority thing. A little "Hold up, guys. Maybe we don't have to persecute all of the nonbenders for the actions of a few. And those people are RIGHT! Look at you!" or whatever. But instead, we get a woman who for all of her strength and goodness, is a fangirl at best when it comes to the most important part of the series.

5. Amon. Oh, Amon. /Noatak. You enigma, you. Seriously, this guy was a badass. And then his entire life story gets outed for us in ten minutes. Now, don't get me wrong. I'd normally accept any background that the creators gave us. And this one (at least for the most part) made sense and could establish who he was. But it could have been significantly more powerful if Amon was actually just a really powerful nonbender, a man who hated and wanted revenge in his own right rather than being bred for that by his father. Even more, we don't see an explanation of his traits in the backstory. What is motivating him to do this?! Mostly, we get a "he wanted equality for all even when he was really young." Whelp, that's great and all, but we're still given no substance as to why he started the Equalists. Why did he try to get equality like THAT? Why did he decide to de-bend people? Was it because of his father, a powerful and dangerous bender who escaped? Why did he do this? We, as an audience, are expected to connect the dots on what is a poorly developed character background. Not only was his background out of the blue (seriously? NO CLUES before that, so this was an AH-HAH! moment rather than a total revealing) but it didn't actually explain what happened psychologically to create Amon. And AS SOON as this is revealed, Amon becomes weaker. This is a powerful man. He can bend people with his mind. And when his movement falls to shambles, he runs away. This is a man who still has valid points - so was he out for the power? Out to actually create equality? What was he thinking after that, other than that he missed his brother? So much about him doesn't make sense, and although I liked how he wasn't connected with an ATLA character, I definitely preferred him behind the mask and background-less.

Oh, and then he dies. I'm actually okay, given EVERYTHING ELSE, with his death. It makes sense. I like how they handled it. Props always to the Avatar series for handling death well.

6. Iroh - Don't get me wrong, I liked seeing him. But by the end, he was extraneous. All he really helped was to bring down airplanes, and serve fanservice. Also Dante Basco's voice messed me up and I called him Zuko at least three times.



Now, really, I liked watching the finale. It was exciting. The shocking moments make me flail and squeal. And oh my god the ANIMATION you guys. But really... ultimately, it left me wanting at the end. It confused me and left me intellectually dissatisfied. The great thing about Avatar was that it was slower. It addressed the issues that were brought up (which were significantly less nuanced) and it had a clear direction and message. I don't blame the creators and writers and directors entirely. I mean, they had been told that the were writing for a single season. So ultimately, I'm gonna have to blame Nick again. But still, even without assigning blame, the finale left me dissatisfied and confused and a bit angry - which is never a good place for a finale (especially one which was intended to be the end of the SERIES) to leave someone.

[vinnybonboot]

I didn't like it much. I thought it had the same feeling as the rest of the series - rushed, cursory, and flat. I'm going to bullet my ideas with some elaboration to save us all a bit of sanity.

To tinyartist, don't forget that there is an entire season to come where there is a good chance that a lot of what you are talking about may be answered: How Asami handles Makorra, what the Equalist movement will do now that Amon is gone, etc. While I still believe that the next season will be a completely new story (read my first post), they will still have to take many of the details from the previous season to make it work, which could involve a lot of your points.

And who knows? Maybe I'm wrong and season 2 will be a continuation of season 1, with the Equalists still at large with a new leader.

Either way, it's very hard to judge a season solely on its own when the series has one overarching goal or story (in this case, it was to defeat Amon/Equilists; in ATLA, it was to defeat Firelord Ozai). If it was a series such as Spongebob for example (just the first show I thought of) where every episode is completely separate from the next, then you could judge the season on its own; you can judge every episode on its own really.

Just keep an open mind and wait for the next season. A lot of your questions may be answered then.

[Tiny]

I didn't like it much. I thought it had the same feeling as the rest of the series - rushed, cursory, and flat. I'm going to bullet my ideas with some elaboration to save us all a bit of sanity.

To tinyartist, don't forget that there is an entire season to come where there is a good chance that a lot of what you are talking about may be answered: How Asami handles Makorra, what the Equalist movement will do now that Amon is gone, etc. While I still believe that the next season will be a completely new story (read my first post), they will still have to take many of the details from the previous season to make it work, which could involve a lot of your points.

And who knows? Maybe I'm wrong and season 2 will be a continuation of season 1, with the Equalists still at large with a new leader.

Either way, it's very hard to judge a season solely on its own when the series has one overarching goal or story (in this case, it was to defeat Amon/Equilists; in ATLA, it was to defeat Firelord Ozai). If it was a series such as Spongebob for example (just the first show I thought of) where every episode is completely separate from the next, then you could judge the season on its own; you can judge every episode on its own really.

Just keep an open mind and wait for the next season. A lot of your questions may be answered then.

The creators have confirmed in interviews that it will not be a straight continuation of season one, and that Amon was solely a Season 1 villain. They've said more than once that it will be a new story arc. Yes, I have a feeling that they will address some of the issues raised here, and I can't judge it until I see it, but the future chance that they might doesn't pardon this season as the standalone that it as intended to be.

And yes, I can judge a season easily. I can judge an EPISODE easily (and that's been done, many times, on this forum as well as on the internet in general). Heck, people still judge the ATLA seasons in individual parts (my favorite is the second - that's a judgement). Just because you disagree with me doesn't give you a right to chide me for not keeping an open mind. As I've said many times before, I will eagerly watch the second season because I love this show and I have faith in it. That doesn't change my opinion that the first season was terrible.

[Darth Cheesecake]

On the whole I felt the first season was very very rushed.

There was a lot I liked and a lot that I didn't like.

I'll break it down as follows.

The good:
Bolin-funny as all hell
Tenzin and his family-badass and adorable
Lin-badass
The Lieutenant-Lance Henriksen is always great and he felt like the only truly classy villain on team equalist
Amon up until the final-Until he was "unmasked" he was the perfect kind of villain
Asami-She's my favorite person on the krew besides Bolin
That short clip of Bumi-we can tell he's going to be awesome

And now the bad:
Amon during the finale-A lot of his "cool factor" was ruined by giving him a background
Mako-not my cup of tea.
KorraxMako-Borra is still where it's at.
The pacing-this season would have been much better served if it had gotten to be as long as book 1 of ATLA nuff said.

I'd score this season as a 7.5 Good but with significant negatives.

[Tiny]

I'd score this season as a 7.5 Good but with significant negatives.

I can see that. Overall, for a kid's series, it was still brilliant and intellectual and unique. But for Avatar, I felt it was flat. I'd probably go down to a 7 overall, but good scoring.

[Mika Hayami]

K-rap.

I agree with everything Tiny said, but would also like to add a necessary rebuttal to everyone's excuses about how "it's only ONE season."

I ask the question: Does that give them a right to have a blenderized, rushed, thrown-together series? NO. They should have milked those twelve episodes for all they were worth and not try to squeeze a twenty-episode plot into a twelve-episode plot. And for relationships, I'd go so far as to call them sixty-episode plots squeezed into twelve episodes. If you have a page limit for a story, that doesn't give you license to lessen the quality of the same quantity.

That being said, there were still plenty of things they COULD have done in the finale that would have IMPLIED resolution off-screen. People (BEI FONG) didn't need to be fixed on-screen. I honestly believe the end of the story (even when considering they didn't know they had a second season) would have been plenty optimistic and rewarding if we were left with the hope and guarantee that Korra had made the first real headway into becoming spiritual, rather than becoming a full Avatar in thirty seconds. NOT OKAY. NOT EVEN AANG AND THE LION TURTLE DID THAT.

[Renori Fa]

After finishing the episode, I actually had to go around the forum and check to make sure that was the finale...
Really?
What really sums it up for me is that it felt so transient. We meet Korra at the beginning as a powerful bender, but a weak spiritualist. Just from that the series should have been geared toward her spiritual maturity. But that didn't happen. What was intended as her spirtual transformation? Unlocking airbending after seeing her lust-partner (refuse to say lover, they've known each other for a month)? A five minute meditation in a metal bin? Crying over the loss of her bending? In the end she was just the same korra we saw at the beginning.

Amon was such a mystery the whole series, but we learned EVERYTHING about him in a brief flashback. (Also-- MUST EVERYONE BE RELATED??? What happened to the good ATLA where it there was such a diverse cast of characters, from all social/economic backgrounds. All of LOK felt like it was just the big players, with the given exception of mako and bolin) And what really disappointed me is that although he had cruel methods, Amon did have a good point that the difference of benders vs nonbenders is unfair.But in the end that epic conflict of social justice was just swept under the rug, and now what? Benders rule again. Where's the rest of the closure? What happens to the other equalists and people who truly believe in the equalist values? Amon was the leader of the movement, but he was still only feeding on already-present feelings.

The relationships were just a mess. How long did it take us to develop Kataang? From the moment Aang wakes up and looks at Katara with her hair flowing in the wind as she hold him, we know they are the couple of the series. But we had to wait--even after Aang burned her, then she saved him in the north pole, then their moment in the cave of two lovers, etc etc.... Their relationship was built naturally, just as two people would have fallen in love. But in Korra it felt as though the only reason Makorra happened was because the divine hand of the writers forced it. It felt as though it HAD to happen, just to give the show a little more flare.

And last, where was the LOSS? Everyone gets their bending back and yay now we can move on again. But there's no loss or anything to show for the struggle? I still think that the loss of bending should have been a permanent damage, so that there was a least something. Then the victory would have felt more fulfilling, to show that she could defeat Amon, but she would have to pay a price. Same with Lin, her sacrifice would have meant so much if it weren't just reversed right away. ATLA had it right... zuko defeated azula but had to leave with a wound/scar, aang had his own scars/his whole people wiped out, sokka broke his leg/lost his sword, the world was still scarred/divided, etc. LOK gave no lasting impact of the equalist war.

IMO, they were doomed trying to make this series into just 12 episodes and fit in everything that we wanted.


actually wait one more thing, where was the rest of the WORLD? ATLA was so awesome for me because I felt apart of the universe. It was a whole world to explore. But we were confined to one area without any reach beyond republic city. that was perhaps the most disappointing. kdone

[Count of Monte Fisto]

Strange, I actually had a lot to complain about, but after reading this, I think I liked it more than most the people who commented here.

Personally, half the people who actually regularly go on AP guessed that the two of them would be brothers by episode 8. I even floated the idea by episode 6. It wasn't greaat, but it was better than any of the other theories I saw going around. My only issue with how it was handled is that aside from guessing everything that is humanly possible, they do nothing to set you up for it or make it seem breathtaking when you figure out.

I was going to complain about how Tarrlok became a different person, but that actually kind of makes sense in the situation. It just really did feel like he was a different character in episode 11 and 12 than he was in the rest of the series.

As for Korra's development... this is the part that is mehh. And maybe I wasn't disappointed so much because I was expecting this part to suck ass. So Airbending is the bending of calm, peace, and adaptation. So that means Korra is the MOST LIKELY to learn it when she is extremely emotionally distraught and energetic. If she learned how to firebend like that, I would be cool, but this was airbending. Her personality did nothing to change. Her gut instinct was to be a dumbass, and it worked. Like Aang, she needed to fail her final test of growing up and still have it work for her in the end. That bugged me. If she were patient and learned from her mistakes and they made an point to emphasize this and she managed to learn airbending at a calm after losing her bending and seeing it from her past selves... now that would have been how to do it. I have few words on Koko. Korra is a dumbass and Mako is a douche... the two are perfect together. Anything more predictable than Kataang doesn't even require its own criticism. Watching the show is enough to see what's wrong with it.

I like Noatok and I like Amon, but I am not so sure I liked Amon being Noatok. Amon was as flat as a board. That was part of his charm. He was little more than the face to his organization. As someone completely obsessed with his goals, that was to be expected. Noatok seemed like the perfect troubled character. My issue is that Amon/Noatok had just little enough depth to him that I wasn't really sure how it all fit in. LoK was good, I think, at making me fill out character development blanks. We never got why Tarrlok changed so much or why Noatok started the Equalists exactly. We never really understood what possessed them to walk in the footsteps of their obviously an asshole dad that neither of them really respected, but I feel those are blanks we can fill in fairly easily. The issue is that we aren't used to filling them in and some of answers seem kind of muddy at best without any kind of an explanation, especially when all of this is introduced in the second to last episode.

As for the lack of a real epilogue... that is why this is a SEASON FINALE, and not the SERIES FINALE. Yes season 2 will be its own story, but I have some faith that they won't just throw everything from season 1 out and just say "Amon was the badguy. Nonbenders, go back to happily being inferior." This isn't a Michael Bay movie, I expect something to to be done about the Equalist movement and some talks or whatever. They did a decent job making that fall apart immediately, but how it calms down seems to be more of an overlay for season 2 than stuff that should have made the finale of season 1. Once again, if this were the series finale, I would jump on the hate train for leaving it out, but I think we will get more wrap up for it all. I won't put that against the finale because ending without seeing the full resolution after a season's finale is fairly common with shows and to judge without knowing if they will truly drop all of it seems unfair.

All the "blah blah blah rushed" stuff does apply still. Seeing as how this felt more like a series finale to a short series than a season finale, they took the most important information and did throw it at us a bit on the fast side. I just don't know if people feel like it is more rushed than the rest of the rushed series or if this is just saying the same thing we have been saying since episode 6 or 3.. I don't remember.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It was not without its many flaws, but I personally thought it was better than the ATLA series finale, just not nearly as good as the season 2 finale. I have hope for it, but more than anything, I am curious to what kind of world problem they are going to step up with for the fully realized Avatar Korra. Normally they do a good job making REAL Avatars seem way overpowered, so I am wondering what they will do. Amon was basically Gene Gray, Professor Xavier, and Iceman all at the same time... all while being Lenin. It is hard to step up from that.

[Sugar]

i personally loved it! i do wish though that the entire season could've been spread out more in regards to more episodes, but having it the way it was made it straight and to the point. haha i was really happy when lin got her bending back. she's definitely one of my favorites.

but overall it had a good amount of plot twisters which made everything a lot more interesting. i was not expecting amon and tarrlock to be related at all. and i had no idea that blood bending could take a person's bending away. i kinda hope to go into more detail on all of that in season 2. it sounds interesting.

i know amon and tarrlock were to have supposively died at the end, but something is telling me that they're not. but it would be hard to live after that kind of explosion though.

[Count of Monte Fisto]

No body leaves it up in the air. Their deaths were cool and dramatic, but I wouldn't be outraged if they were further developed as redemption characters.

[Characterswelcome]

The series finale was pretty good.
But...I thought the first part of the finale was kind of uneventful, I know it was kind of the set up for the rest of the show, but it kind of bored me.
I think it's awesome that Korra and Mako got together, but maybe it was a little too soon, maybe Mako fell for Korra a little too fast. And also the lovey-dovey parts between them were too cheesy, and had me facepalming at every moment.
I was definitely shocked that Amon was Tarrlock's brother, and I did enjoy the back story, and it was pretty sad when Tarlock and Amon blew up on the boat.
There was a big OH SNAP moment when Korra got her bending taken away, but I loved seeing Aang when he returned her bending.
Don't really particularly care for the plot between Asami and her father (can't say I like Asami all that much as a character in general). But glad it ended the way it did.
Although I love the connection between Iroh and Zuko, I wasn't too emotionally involved with the character because we were only introduced to him the previous episode.
Glad to see that Korra could people's bending abilities.

Overall I give the episode a 7.5 agreeing with Darth Cheesecake. It was also a bit rushed, but I think that's pretty much everyone's opinion...
And I think that's it. I know my opinions are a bit everywhere, but I just wrote as I thought of stuff.

[mononoke]

I wasn't impressed with the ending.
Firstly, iroh sounds awful with that voice. Iroh doesn't look like a 14 year old and shouldn't sound like one. Now for the real problems. the biggest problem with the finale was the rushing, in fact it was the core problems that all the other problems stem from.

Amon's character was thoroughly underdeveloped, there should have been a lot exposition between the kid who ran away pissed off at his dad and the crazy revolutionary. And we saw none of that. More importantly we never heard Amon's side of the story. If that wasn't enough Amon was destroyed. Amon seemed a lot more interesting than a guy with out of control daddy issues, he seemed like a guy with misguided sense of justice. And idealist who's position can be intellectually justified, while his execution remained questionable. instead he was ruined into hypocritical douche bag in a matter of minutes

Then there is all this deus ex machina stuff. Korra is a refreshingly strong girl both physically & mentally. It's one thing for her to show weakness now & then, but it's travesty for the rest of the avatars bail her out when she was crying & desperate. Korra should have had to fight to get her powers back. This whole get out of free spirit card business was damn insulting the character she was built up to be.

Lastly, the finale didn't deal with the core conflict of the season, the potential & real abuse of power associated with bending. There is a reason people followed Amon in droves, and it's not because of the funky mask. There were real grievances between benders & non-benders, the justification for these grievances were highlighted from the very first episode consistently throughout the series. however, the issue was untouched in the very last episode and left completely unresolved. Instead all we got was korra beating the shit out of the equalists, and then not even bothering to make corny speech to set things right.

[mononoke]

Yeah, and asami got shafted big time. Although this is hardly surprising given how awful relationships have been handled so far.


I hope the next season has more to do with the spirit world.

[EndangeredOptimist]

As a means to clarify: I don't take issue with ANY Avatar fan who did not like or feel satisfied with 'The Legend of Korra' first season or the finale. What irks me is fans who say, "They didn't do this or this or this, e.g., the things I WANTED in the finale, and therefore I don't like it."

It's quite another thing to have valid criticisms of the new series rather than to blindly squawk because you didn't get the ship you wanted with Korra or because you felt the outcome of season one didn't turn out the way you had hoped.

That being said, let's take the pain-in-the-arse, season-to-season commitment with Nickelodeon out of the equation for a moment and simply look at the work as it stands. Nickelodeon, as we all know, doesn't always have 'Avatar's' best interests at heart [cue Shyamalan] or the fandom's best interests at heart either. [cue the YouTube Copyright Infringement Crusade] But to give credit where credit is due, I was floored to find 'The Legend of Korra' episodes available to purchase through Amazon Instant Video within 24 hours of their original airing on Nickelodeon. That, at least, is a drastic improvement from ATLA. Do you remember how long we had to wait for DVDs to come out to legitimately OWN Avatar episodes instead of secretly sharing them amongst ourselves? But I digress...

I can say with great certainty, solely from my observance of the Tumblr Avatar fans, there's a lot and I mean a whole hell of a lot of nostalgia for ATLA. And that's a concern. Why? Because after the much-anticipated EPIC finale of 'The Legend of Korra,' fandom should logically be swarming with LOK fan art, fan fic and cosplay, etc. Instead, the most-liked posts on Tumblr are surprisingly a lot of retro-Avatar, aka ATLA.

That's very telling.

After savoring Brychael's new offering from the Avatar Universe, 'The Legend of Korra,' many fans have returned crestfallen to ATLA to mentally regroup. It's VERY difficult, as you all know, to follow any great work, even if it's your own. How many sequels have you really felt were AS good, if not better, than the original? Very few.

This places an enormous amount of pressure on LOK Book 2. IMO

Book 2 has to win back the fans who have scurried back to ATLA to soothe their nerves after watching (as evidenced through this thread and the comments elsewhere in fandom) a much-too-much rushed first season, a series with too much immediate violence (Tarrlok's murder/suicide), a rushed romantic interest for Korra who is perceived as being a player or dishonorable because he didn't end his relationship with his girlfriend before declaring his love for Korra, a season which is lacking in peace-time episodes--meaning many fans have complained that Avatar Aang's struggle against Fire Lord Ozai was a long, embattled journey and after this there was SUPPOSED to be some kind of story about how Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang rebuilt the Avatar world. And yet with the inception of Korra, fans are instantly plummeted into a new war-time epic, with little to no insight as to what the 'good times' were like after the final defeat of Azula and Fire Lord Ozai.

[Kana]

I'm conflicted. I really liked the ending. I loved the animation, the twist and the new characters that were introduced. It was awesome to see such good fighting. And Amon being related to Tarrlok and Yakone was so... unexpected! The way Amon was exposed was great too! I mean, being not only a waterbender but a bloodbender too! That was perfect. But, I didn't like how rushed everything was. I think the last two episodes should have been turned into four or so. To give viewers a little more time to digest everything that was happening. I mean, there was Makorra, fighting, plot twists, bending taken away, old avatars, new characters and more! That's my complaint on it. Well, that and I think Iroh is too clean cut and old for Dante Basco's voice. But oh well. I can deal with that.

[EndangeredOptimist]

I'm conflicted. I really liked the ending. I loved the animation, the twist and the new characters that were introduced. It was awesome to see such good fighting. And Amon being related to Tarrlok and Yakone was so... unexpected! The way Amon was exposed was great too! I mean, being not only a waterbender but a bloodbender too! That was perfect. But, I didn't like how rushed everything was. I think the last two episodes should have been turned into four or so. To give viewers a little more time to digest everything that was happening. I mean, there was Makorra, fighting, plot twists, bending taken away, old avatars, new characters and more! That's my complaint on it. Well, that and I think Iroh is too clean cut and old for Dante Basco's voice. But oh well. I can deal with that.

It's difficult, if not impossible, for some fans to see LOK and ATLA as two separate entities. It's all within the Avatar Universe and so, rightly, there will be comparisons. I loved the first season of Korra but I can totally see Tiny and other fan's points of view with regards to feeling that there was a notable lack of something--namely time--to slowly grow plot lines and characters.

It's doubly difficult for fans because on the one hand, we're all just freakin' grateful to have another series from Avatar with which to analyze and enjoy but on the other hand, in a perfect world Korra would have 20 episodes per season and not 12-14.

Plus there's all of this:



And well, there's this too:








::deep sigh::

Yeah, not cool...

Sources:

http://dearkorra.tumblr.com/post/25740039952/i-have-noatak-and-tarrlok-feels
http://stayflaminsifuhotman.tumblr.com/post/25984221486