boltstuck:

bramblepatch:

Yeah, I agree she was pretty clearly considering suicide as a viable option, but this was anticlimactic in the most literal sense of the word. It literally undid one of the major things that happened in the climax! They easily could have gotten an entire season out of Korra trying to get her bending back - personally I would have gone with “she has to re-learn from the original masters” and sent her off to find badgermoles and dragons, and study the moon for a few months (possibly with an appearance from Yue???). But nope. Let’s just have Aang show up and run system restore on the Avatar.

ok, I haven’t seen legend of Korra yet at all, just listened to roommates who are watching and talking about it, but my curiosity is overwhelming me, so I gotta ask;

— The tags say “becomes a fully realized avatar”, but the imagines just look like she went into the Avatar state, which Aang was able to do randomly and uncontrollably from the get-go.  I remember hearing that she wasn’t able to unlock it originally, but is she like, in control of the state, is that what was explicitly shown?  Because she looks pretty startled in the last bit there.

— Aang didn’t give up Katara.  Okay, I realize that he reached the point of making the decision to, but was interrupted by Azula’s attack.  Later, after a long time of not being able to reach the Avatar state, he was unlocked BY A ROCK MAGICALLY HITTING HIM IN EXACTLY THE RIGHT SPOT.  And after that, he was able to control the Avatar state at a point where he’d very obviously not given up what he loved or what he believed.

— suicidal depression is kind of a big mountain to face on it’s own.

Again, I haven’t seen the show and may end up eating my words when I get to it, but what I see from looking back over The Last Airbender is that, while the Avatar State (and controlling it) was established as the Ultimate Prize for Aang, one that he had to earn and struggle and strive for, that doesn’t mean it’s the Ultimate Prize for every single Avatar.

The lives of the Avatar would be a perpetual cycle; learning and relearning the same powers and skills over and over and over again — and yet, somehow, gaining new knowledge and growth each time as the world changes around them.  

But consider how the cycle works; learning Earthbending was a BIG DEAL for Aang.  It was an emotional and mental challenge, because it required him to go against his inherent nature.  His need to learn it also led him to Toph, who became a vital part in the war against the Fire Nation AND invented metalbending and went on to some other awesome shit.

However, learning to Earthbend was piddling shit for Avatar Kyoshi.  Obviously, the reflection of Aang’s situation would be when Kyoshi re-mastered Airbending, but it can’t have been an exact inversion, because Airbending was not only her opposite element, it was the last ability for her to master as part of her cycle.  Aang got a grip on the mental state it took to Earthbend in a single episode; he struggled with his last element - fire - for over a season, and his Firebending teacher brought something entirely different to the table than Toph did.  Kyoshi may have struggled with Airbending for years.  It could have been her Ultimate Prize and the people she gathered and the events she took part in would’ve had a wholely different impact on history than anything Aang did.  Or not.  Maybe what she had to struggle for was something else.

What I’m getting at here is that while the struggle to learn and mastering the Avatar state was hugely important for Aang, it may not be what’s important for Korra’s story.  And her while struggling with not having bending at all for time could’ve been a great story itself, that too, may not be that the writers were aiming for in the long run.  That’s not bad writing, in and of itself.

But only time will tell.

Ok, I’m pulling this off the photoset because you’ve said that you haven’t watched Korra but also have raised some questions I’d like to discuss, so I’m going to say right up front that there are MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS for the entire series but ESPECIALLY for the season finale, and stick everything behind a cut. Your choice whether or not you want to click through.

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