Book One of The Legend of Korra ended over a month ago and I never really got a chance to talk about the finale. However, my A:TLA compatriot Julia wrote a pretty spot-on review of the finale and for the most part I agree with her. The short version is for me, the finale had some of the most gorgeous animation the show has ever done. The battle with studly Iroh fireflying was kind of breathtaking. However, the resolution of the antagonists and in particular the reveal of Amon’s true identity was disappointing. They built up Amon to be this very complex villain with his own set of morals that had the fans asking tough ethical questions about bending and corruption, but surprise — he’s been faking his passion the whole time! Actually a bender, actually just out for power. On top of that, the resolution of Korra’s bending also felt rushed (and don’t get me started on Mako). So yeah, disappointing.
I know the finale made the fans’ confidence in the show waver, but going forward I still have hope that they can make Book Two consistently stronger. If anything, the creators are going into this knowing they have multiple seasons to tell this story (instead of the supposed mini-series that was Book 1).
I know many fans were upset that Bolin’s character development faded into the background as the season progressed. Many people looked towards Sokka’s development in season one and how they gave him some real depth by the season finale, but to the writers’ credit they really are two very different shows. Avatar: The Last Airbender was a traveling adventure, which meant the characters could have more side adventures on their way to their destination … that left more room for character-focused episodes. Legend of Korra was more plot-based and most of the episodes were dedicated to the Equalist storyline. I still don’t like some of the character choices they made, but I didn’t fault them as much as other fans. However, I do expect more character development from the side characters in general going forward.
The creators have already talked a little about what we can look forward to next season, and show creator Michael Dante DiMartino described one of Bolin’s storylines for next season: “Then we have one of the most bizarre love stories for Bolin, which I don’t want to give away. In Avatar, we have plenty of relationship stuff going on — love triangles and stuff like that — but I think the ones we deal with in Book Two, we’ve never done before. They’re different dynamics.”
Now the fans have to figure out what “bizarre” means. I know one of the suggestions from fans is that he falls in love with another guy, but I don’t think the creators would be so tactless as to call that bizarre. Since this book is going to be called “Spirits,” there’s a possibility that he falls in love with a spirit … which means Bolin is going to have more heartbreak in his future. But these are the guys who had a main character’s love interest turn into the Moon — what exactly is bizarre in their eyes? I’d really love to see him get swept off his feet by an outgoing firebender myself. I’m just hoping they give him some substantial storylines this next season in general.
By the way, Legend of Korra is now officially going to be four books long with 52 episodes total. Here’s hoping the rest of the series is paced a little better because I honestly want this show to succeed.
Clacked by Katie Schenkel 
on Jul 31, 2012 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I think it’s a misreading to suggest that Amon was faking his passion the whole time. Tarrlok straight-up says that he thinks Amon is completely sincere. He is simultaneously a self-hating bender (because of what was done to him as a child) and enamored with the power the Avatar possesses to take away bending at will (again, because of what happened to him as a child). That, to me, was a really interesting resolution to the storyline (I have issues with other stuff in the finale, but not the Amon backstory, which I found quite compelling).
I also think, however, that people were reading Amon as a generally sympathetic revolutionary reader, which is, frankly, a little unsettling for me. Not all charismatic revolutionaries are benevolent. In fact, a lot of them are the opposite, even if the causes they support truly are. And when someone shows up on a stage with WWE-style theatrics and eliminationist rhetoric, claiming a divine mandate to dole out justice at will, and staging what looked like public executions, we ought to be immediately suspicious and disturbed. But being a dangerous narcissist with a violent agenda doesn’t mean you’re insincere, and none of this means that many of the Equalists didn’t have a point. They clearly did, and the show had sympathetic characters explicitly say so at many points. The Lieutenant, for example, is a pretty tragic case of someone who maybe started out with a legitimate beef with the status quo that led him to blindly follow the wrong guy.
Okay there Ashley, way to go on a rant. A simple ‘Amon was a self-hating bigot’ would have sufficed there. Seriously it’s a kid’s show, no need for all the analysis.
Wheew, anywho, I agree with the poster of the article. Not that I’m blaming or pointing fingers at anyone specifically, *cough cough Nickelodeon *cough*, but the show could’ve had more depth to it if Mike and Bryan really wanted to target more mature situations, however they were only limited to twelve episodes so as such had to work with what they got. The characters were poorly developed with the exception of Amon, and all of my hopes for him went down the toilet when I found out he was a bender, then became an emotional wreck after his identity was revealed, then died. There was so much promise there, and it was all destroyed in a matter of a few minutes. Then that ending…let me not get started on that.
It’d be interesting to see who Bolin’s next love interest would be, I’m actually sort of curious about that. Here’s to hoping the show develops well in the coming seasons.