‘The Legend of Korra’ (2012), the sequel series to the critically acclaimed ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005), has officially received an order for 26 more episodes from Nickelodeon. The show’s huge viewership and steady ratings through season one, which premiered April 14, 2012, encouraged the Nickelodeon executives to give it another shot.

The new order for episodes will be in addition to the 14-episode second season, which is set to premiere some time in 2013. The creators of ‘Korra’ held a panel at San Diego Comic Con on July 13 where they showcased new character models and backgrounds for the upcoming season. The cast and crew for ‘Korra’ also showed up to answer questions and sign autographs for excited fans.

‘Korra’ tells the story of the 17-year-old Korra (Janet Varney), the new Avatar following Aang. It takes place seventy years in the future as she has learned to master earthbending, waterbending, and firebending, but needs to learn airbending to become a completely realized Avatar. Aang’s eldest son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons), was set to teach her airbending, but he is called away to Republic City, a large city riddled with crime and tension between the benders and non-benders. Impatient, Korra follows him to the city and gets into trouble, but through her determination, Tenzin decides to let her stay at the airbending temple with his family and start her training.

However, Korra has a difficult time understanding that airbending requires patience, peace, and repetition. She feels frustrated with her inability to airbend and her isolation on the island. She sneaks out one night after listening to a pro-bending match. Pro-bending is a competition where benders compete to knock each other out of a ring and Korra finds herself in love with the sport.

She bumps into Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an earthbender for the Fire Ferrets, and he invites her to watch the match. Bolin’s brother, Mako (David Faustino), assumes Korra is just another one of Bolin’s many fangirls and treats her coldly until he realizes she is the Avatar. Soon afterward, their third team member quits and Korra volunteers to take his spot so the Fire Ferrets can compete in the championship tournament.

Tenzin discovers that Korra is playing in the arena and demands that she return home, but she refuses. She struggles to stay on her feet in the match, but then she remembers Tenzin’s training and eventually helps the team win. After seeing her improvement and her zest for probending, Tenzin agrees to let her stay on the team.

The main plot of ‘Korra’ is centered around the tension between benders and non-benders in Republic City. A mysterious masked man named Amon (Steve Blum) appears and claims that he and his followers, the Equalists, will stand up for non-benders. He demonstrates that he has the ability to remove a person’s bending, thus becoming a threat to all the benders in the city.

Furthermore, Councilman Tarrlok (Dee Bradley Baker), wants to hunt Amon down and secure himself as the savior of Republic City in the meantime. He and Korra butt heads repeatedly because of his misuse of the police force and blatant manipulation of Chief Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling), daughter of Toph.

The 12-episode season ended June 23, 2012 and fans are still reeling from the action-packed, emotional roller coaster the show put them on. The season finale was one of the highest rated and widely watched shows on that Saturday morning and contributed greatly to the decision to order more episodes.

‘Korra’ is expected to return with a 14-episode second season some time in 2013. Don’t miss it.

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Nickelodeon’s ‘The Legend of Korra’, the sequel series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, premiered its hour-long season one finale Saturday, June 23, 2012 with the two-part epic, “Skeletons in the Closet” and “Endgame.”

Major spoilers ahead for the finale as well as the entire first season.

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). She is also friends with Mako (David Faustino), a Firebender, and his brother Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an Earthbender. The three play on a team, the Fire Ferrets, in a competition known as pro-bending. Right now, Korra and her friends are embroiled in a struggle with Amon (Steve Blum), leader of the Equalists, who has developed the ability to remove a person’s bending permanently. He wants to conquer Republic City and destroy everyone’s bending abilities.

In the previous episode, Amon declared war on Republic City and began attacking its citizens with airships. Tenzin took his family away from Air Temple Island while Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling) fended off their pursuers, losing her bending ability in a selfless act to save them. Korra and her friends have been hiding underground in a colony for the homeless as they await the arrival of reinforcements led by General Iroh (Dante Basco), grandson of Zuko.

General Iroh’s battleships reach the city but the airships have been replaced with airplanes, which easily dominate the battlefield. Korra intervenes and manages to destroy the fleet, but she and Mako learn that there are more of them on the way. General Iroh sends word to his brother Bumi to send more troops while Korra and Mako head up into the city to take Amon head on at a rally.

While waiting to confront Amon, Korra and Mako find Tarrlok (Dee Bradley Baker) imprisoned. He reveals that Amon is actually his brother, formerly known as Noatak. They had been raised by the evil bloodbender Yakone to become bloodbenders as well, but as he continued forcing the two brothers to bloodbend, Noatak became angry and resentful of them both. He snapped and ran away from home while Tarrlok grew up alone, thinking his brother had died in a snowstorm.

Korra and Mako attend the Equalist rally and tell Amon’s followers that he is actually a waterbender, but no one believes them. Amon reveals that he has captured Tenzin and his family and Korra and Mako rescue them.

Meanwhile, Bolin, Asami (Seychelle Gabriel), and General Iroh head to the airfield to destroy the remaining airplanes in Amon’s army. With some difficulty, they are able to tear up the airfield and Asami defeats her father, who had been working for Amon.

Amon chases Korra and Mako through the pro-bending arena and after a vicious fight, he removes Korra’s bending. Mako manages to injure him and tries to get the both of them to safety, but Amon corners him and just as he tries to take Mako’s bending, Korra unleashes her airbending. He falls into the water outside around his followers and in his enraged state, he exposes his waterbending. Most of his followers give up on the cause and he lets Tarrlok out of his prison and escapes. While fleeing Republic City, Tarrlok explodes the boat, presumably killing them both because they have nowhere left to go.

Korra is taken back to the Air Temple to be examined and Katara admits that she cannot restore her bending. Korra is heartbroken and Mako tries to console her, revealing that he is in love with her. Korra runs off alone and in her despair, she contacts Aang in the Avatar state and he is able to restore her bending. She and Mako admit their love for each other and the season ends there.

The finale is a heart-stopping ride, to say the least. Every scene has a deep emotional impact on the characters as well as the audience. It is by far one of the most adult-oriented episodes as well because it deals with child abuse, war, and an onscreen murder-suicide, which may cause some parents dismay as they watch with their children. However, because these issues are handled with exceptional care and expert writing, the finale ends up being one of the most powerful in the show’s history.

Furthermore, while Mako has been receiving heavy criticism from the fans for his actions in the season so far, his utter devotion to Korra in the finale is simply amazing. He fights his hardest to stop Amon, and even when he fails, he still manages to save Korra, nearly dying trying to get her to safety.  If nothing else, his sacrifice and love for Korra deepen the bond between them more than words can say.

While the finale is excellent, the biggest flaw is the last minute restoration of Korra’s bending. This problem is largely due to time constraints and episode limits. Because the first season is only twelve episodes long, the writers have had to condense the story and rush the ending in order to resolve the lingering problem with Korra. Some fans have been waiting all season long to see Korra reach the Avatar state and converse with her other reincarnations, and so some feel cheated that they did not get to fully enjoy it. Plus, Korra’s restoration happens in less than a minute so it feels like a cop out as she didn’t have a long time to deal with only being able to airbend.

Still, even with its problems, the season finale of Korra is a magnificent ending to an already stellar show. Season two has already been written and is currently being animated, set for a release sometime in 2013.

Grade: 4/5

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Nickelodeon’s ‘The Legend of Korra’, sequel series to the hit show ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, continued Saturday, June 16, 2012 with its tenth episode, “Turning the Tides.”

Spoiler alert!

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). She is also friends with Mako (David Faustino), a Firebender, and his brother Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an Earthbender, and plays on their team, the Fire Ferrets, in a competition known as pro-bending. Right now, Korra and her friends are embroiled in a struggle with Amon (Steve Blum), leader of the Equalists, who has developed the ability to remove a person’s bending permanently. He wants to conquer Republic City and destroy everyone’s bending abilities.

Meanwhile, Councilman Tarrlok (Dee Bradley Baker) has been waging his own war with the non-benders, thus causing he and Korra to butt heads. When Korra confronted him for wrongfully imprisoning her friends, he kidnapped her and lied about it, saying that Amon captured her. However, former Chief of Police Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling) broke Korra’s friends out of jail and brought Tenzin along to discover the truth. Once discovered, Tarrlok fled Republic City, intending to take Korra with him, but then Amon showed up and took his bending away. Korra narrowly escaped Amon’s clutches and returned to Republic City, where her friends soon found her.

The tenth episode picks up with Korra recovering from her ordeal with both Tarrlok and Amon. She tells Tenzin and her friends what happened, leading them to believe that Amon’s actions are escalating towards his end game. Tenzin sets up a meeting with the city council to figure out how to stop him.

Meanwhile, Asami (Seychelle Gabriel), Mako’s girlfriend, has begun to get agitated with all the attention Mako bestows on Korra. She confronts him and demands to know if he likes Korra in a romantic sense, but Mako stresses that there is not enough time to argue when the entire city is in danger. This argument puts the two of them at odds with each other and the tension becomes so thick that even Korra later notices it.

When Tenzin heads to the council meeting, several Equalists attempt to capture him as they already captured the other council members, but Korra and her friends intervene. Seconds later, Amon leads several huge airships to begin a siege of Republic City. One of the airships heads towards the Air Temple, where Tenzin’s family lives, and they all rush back to help. Lin Bei Fong and Tenzin’s family fight off the Equalists, but more of them are coming. Tenzin sends a message to a nearby Fire Nation city for help while he takes his family to safety. He tells Korra and her friends to stay hidden in the city until the Fire Nation army arrives to help. As they leave, two airships follow them and Lin jumps off to stop them. She destroys one of the airships, but gets captured before she can stop the second one. She is brought before Amon and when she refuses to give up Korra’s location, Amon takes away her bending.

Only moments after this tragedy, the Fire Nation city responds to Tenzin’s message and sends their troops led by General Iroh (Dante Basco), son of Zuko. They are set to arrive in Republic City in three days to confront Amon and bring him to justice.

This episode is by far one of the most emotional in the first season. The escalation of the war between benders and non-benders as well as between the characters is built with ultimate precision. The dynamics of their relationships are changing as a result of constantly being in danger. By far, the most heartbreaking moment is when Lin’s earthbending is taken away from her. Her sacrifice to save Tenzin’s family is one of the most admirable actions in the entire series.

Furthermore, the action sequences are as astounding as always. The animation style lends itself to some of the most visually stunning fights one can be graced to witness. It was particularly satisfying to see Tenzin in action as he defended himself against the Equalists in their mecha suits. Tenzin always teaches peace and understanding, but like his father Aang, he is ready to defend the innocent and fight oppression.

The only thing that detracts from the quality of the episode is the continued lack of attention paid to Bolin. Because the Asami/Mako/Korra love triangle is so prominent, Bolin has been unable to get much screen time in the past few episodes. This is understandable, but also unfortunate as Bolin is a fabulously entertaining character and deserves more screen time.

The hour-long season one finale of ‘Korra’ is slated for June 23, 2012 at 11am EST. All of the events in the show have led up to this and you will not want to miss out. Be there.

Grade: 5/5

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Nickelodeon’s ‘The Legend of Korra’ (2012), the sequel to ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005), premiered its ninth episode, “Out of the Past”, on June 9, 2012.

Spoiler alert!

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). She is also friends with Mako (David Faustino), a Firebender, and his brother Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an Earthbender, and plays on their team, the Fire Ferrets, in a competition known as pro-bending. Right now, Korra and her friends are embroiled in a struggle with Amon (Steve Blum), leader of the Equalists, who has developed the ability to remove a person’s bending permanently. He wants to conquer Republic City and destroy everyone’s bending abilities. Meanwhile, Councilman Tarrlok (Dee Bradley Baker) has been waging his own war with the non-benders, thus butting heads with Korra.

In the previous episode, “When Extremes Meet”, Tarrlok wrongfully imprisoned Mako, Bolin, and Asami (Seychelle Gabriel), Mako’s girlfriend, and Korra went to his office late that night to demand that they be set free. When Tarrlok refused, the two engaged in a brutal fight and Tarrlok only won because he revealed that he is a bloodbender. He kidnapped Korra and threw her in the back of a police car, driving her miles away from the city.

In “Out of the Past”, Tenzin finds out that Korra has gone missing. When he confronts Tarrlok, the councilman lies and says that Equalists kidnapped Korra. When former police chief Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling) hears that the Avatar has been kidnapped, she gears up and breaks Korra’s friends out of jail and joins with Tenzin to go find Korra as well as her kidnapped police officers, whom Amon captured in an earlier episode.

Meanwhile, Korra, who is trapped in a cage in an abandoned house miles outside of Republic City, heeds Tenzin’s words and meditates in order to figure out what the past Avatar, Aang, has been trying to tell her. She discovers that a vicious criminal named Yakone (Clancy Brown) had been menacing Republic City with his bloodbending back when Aang and his friends were adults. He was put on trial and found guilty, but then he attacked the entire courtroom and tried to escape. Aang gave chase and just barely managed to stop him by taking away his bending.

Bei Fong and Korra’s friends find a tunnel beneath Republic City where the Equalists are holding the kidnapped police officers. However, they find that Korra isn’t there and realize that Tarrlok lied. They free the officers and confront Tarrlok, who continues lying, but his assistant reveals that he saw Tarrlok kidnap Korra. This forces Tarrlok to bloodbend the group and run away to go ransom Korra off. However, when he arrives, Amon and the Equalists burst in to capture Korra for themselves. Tarrlok tries to bloodbend Amon but it doesn’t work and Amon removes his bending and captures him. Korra manages to bust out of her cage and escapes. Her polar bear-dog Naga finds her and takes her back to Republic City where her friends get her to safety.

Like the episode before it, this episode is outstanding. The dramatic tension between the new Team Avatar, as Bolin coined them, Tarrlok, and the Equalists, is executed perfectly. Everything builds towards a truly exciting conclusion and leaves tons of problems in its wake. Almost everyone got their moment to shine as they searched for Korra and continued digging for the truth about Tarrlok. Furthermore, the reveal that bloodbending does not work on Amon sent the entire fandom into a frenzy with wild theories about just who and what Amon really is.

It was particularly nice to see Aang, Sokka, and Toph as adults who still share the same level of respect and friendship as they did when they were children. The flashbacks manage to remind us of who they are and how they have changed while still giving an air of familiarity. Fans were especially delighted upon the reveal that Tarrlok was Yakone’s son, as many of them held this theory when they found out he could bloodbend.

This episode also increased the romantic tension between Mako and Korra as Mako was desperate to find Korra and treated her with an amazing amount of tenderness when he finally found her. Bolin told Asami that Mako and Korra had once kissed, so there will definitely be some emotional drama in the next three episodes that remain in the season.

If the preview for the finale is any indication, ‘The Legend of Korra’s’ first season will be just as awesome and heartwrenching as the first season of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’ Fans are eagerly awaiting the finale’s one-hour premiere June 23, 2012.

‘The Legend of Korra’ premieres Saturdays at 11a.m. EST. Be there.

Grade: 5/5

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Nickelodeon’s hit show ‘The Legend of Korra’ (2012), the sequel series to ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005), returned from its two week break with the eighth episode, “When Extremes Meet,” on June 3, 2012.

Spoiler alert!

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). Korra is also friends with Mako (David Faustino), a Firebender, and his brother Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an Earthbender, and plays on their team, the Fire Ferrets, in a competition known as pro-bending. In this game, teams compete to knock each other out of a ring using their bending.

In previous episodes, the leader of the anti-bending movement, Amon (Steve Blum) destroyed the pro-bending arena, leaving Mako and Bolin homeless. Mako’s girlfriend and daughter of the inventor of Satomobiles, Asami Sato (Seychelle Gabriel), offered to let them stay at her mansion, but Korra, Tenzin, and Chief Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling) discovered her father, Hiroshi Sato, was working for Amon. Thus, Asami rejected her father and they all have decided to stay with Korra on the air temple island.

Tenzin’s daughters and son, Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo, help the Fire Ferrets get acquainted with the island when they arrive, but unfortunately, this doesn’t go as well as Korra hoped. Ikki blurts out that Korra has a crush on Mako to Asami, and while Asami does not address this, there is now underlying tension between the two ladies.

Meanwhile, the slimy Councilman Tarrlok  (Dee Bradley Baker) has appointed a new Chief of Police after Bei Fong resigned so she could work independently to rescue the officers Amon captured in their last battle. He then gets the city council to allow him to issue a curfew for all non-benders in an effort to stop the Equalists, or people who support Amon, much to Korra and Tenzin’s frustration.

Korra is also upset because she has still been unable to airbend, but Mako, Bolin, and Asami cheer her up by offering to help her patrol Republic City. While out, they catch a group of chi-blockers and Equalists and turn them in, much to Tarrlok’s annoyance. On another night, Korra and company find out Tarrlok has shut off the power to the homes of non-benders, causing them to protest in anger. She tries to intervene, but Tarrlok’s officers take her friends hostage. She and Tenzin go to the prison the next morning, but the Chief of Police refuses to release them.

Angered, Korra bursts into Tarrlok’s office that night and demands to have her friends freed. Tarrlok offers to free them if Korra returns to working with his taskforce, but she refuses. The two engage in a brutal, heated battle. When Korra gets the upperhand, Tarrlok reveals that he can bloodbend—or control the water in Korra’s body so that she can’t move. He kidnaps her and throws her in the back of a police car, driving her outside the city limits and thus raising the stakes.

This episode is definitely one of the best of the Korra season. The drama is gripping and sometimes downright terrifying, especially when Tarrlok bloodbends Korra’s body. The tension building between the good guys and the bad guys is well executed, and the stakes are very real. Everything feels like a natural progression towards the season finale, which is only several weeks away.

However, there was one drawback that I noted and it is similar to previous complaints I have had about the show. Since ‘Korra’ is shorter than ‘Avatar’, it has to take shortcuts with certain character arcs and dramatic moments. I did not like that Ikki just blurted out that Korra likes Mako for the sake of making Asami suspicious and jealous of the two friends.

I would have preferred her to find this out on her own because Asami is the least developed character in the series so far. She is beautiful, strong and kind, but that is still about all we know about her. She is a bit of a boring character and so seeing her catch on to the little smiles and mild flirting between Korra and Mako on her own would make her seem more perceptive, and therefore, more developed.

‘The Legend of Korra’ premieres Saturdays at 11a.m. EST. Be there.

Grade: 5/5

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Nickelodeon’s hit show ‘The Legend of Korra’ (2012), sequel to ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005), continued with its sixth episode May 12, 2012, “And the Winner Is…”

Spoiler alert!

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). She is also friends with Mako (David Faustino), a Firebender, and his brother Bolin (P.J. Byrne), an Earthbender, and plays on their team, the Fire Ferrets, in a competition known as pro-bending.

In this game, teams compete to knock each other out of a ring using their bending. The Fire Ferrets have made to the final round and have to face the reigning champions, the Wolfbats, led by the arrogant Tahno (Rami Malek).

As Korra, Mako, and Bolin train for their upcoming match, they hear the sinister leader of the anti-bending movement, Amon (Steve Blum), interrupt the radio broadcast. He commands the city council to shut down the pro-bending championship tournament or he will make a move against them. Angry, Korra, Mako, and Bolin charge into the city council’s meeting and plead on the behalf of their tournament.

Tenzin, Tarrlok, and the other council members disagree and want to shut the tournament down to avoid adding fuel to the class war already going on in the city, but the Chief of Police, Lin Bei Fong (Mindy Sterling), comes in and offers her personal protection. The council agrees to her terms and Tenzin tries to talk her out of it, but she refuses to back down. It is here that Korra learns that Tenzin and Lin Bei Fong were once romantically involved, much to Tenzin’s chagrin.

Korra, Mako, and Bolin start the match against the Wolfbats only to discover one horrifying fact—the Wolfbats have paid off the referees and use several kinds of cheating moves without getting any fouls called on them. The Fire Ferrets struggle to defeat the Wolfbats, but all of their illegal moves overwhelm them and they lose the match.

Just after the tournament ends, Amon’s followers electrocute all the police officers, as well as Tenzin, Bei Fong, Korra, Mako, and Bolin, and enter the ring.

Amon takes away Tahno and the Wolfbats’ bending and delivers a speech saying that it is time for all non-benders to be treated as equals. Amon starts to leave but Korra and Bei Fong recover and give chase. Unfortunately, Amon slips away, leaving the pro-bending arena destroyed and many of the people worried that the Avatar cannot defeat him.

This episode’s strength is in its fight sequences. The pro-bending match is incredibly engrossing as we see Korra, Mako, and Bolin give it their all trying to defeat the Wolfbats’ dirty, and outright brutal, attacks. The stand out moments are Korra’s one-on-one tiebreaker match with Tahno, where she uses her agility to uppercut him right off the platform, and when Korra and Bei Fong fight Amon’s electricity-wielding henchmen.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ was inspired by Chinese, Inuit, and Japanese cultures and so is ‘The Legend of Korra’. The fighting styles that the characters use have influences from several different kinds of martial arts to make truly thrilling fight scenes that will leave you breathless and dying for more.

In addition, the gorgeous animation only enhances the experience. The highly stylized art creates stunning colors and an amazing fluidity to the characters’ movements as they fight. These scenes are definitely worth watching more than once and can be appreciated on several levels, from a technical standpoint and from an emotional standpoint as we feel the weight of Korra’s frustration at not being able to catch Amon.

The only drawback I noted in this episode is that Tahno turned out to be a one-trick pony. He is obnoxious, self-absorbed, and downright cowardly, and some of the fans were hoping to see more out of him than what they got.

Many speculated if he would begrudgingly respect the Avatar after their match, but after losing his bending to Amon, there is no telling if his character will disappear entirely or return to the series in upcoming episodes.

‘The Legend of Korra’ premieres Saturdays at 11am EST. Make sure to check it out.

Grade: 4/5

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Nickelodeon’s smash hit ‘The Legend of Korra’ (2012), the sequel series to ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ (2005) continued April 28, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST with its fourth episode, “The Voice in the Night.”

Spoiler alert!

Seventy years after Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai, Korra (Janet Varney) is the newest Avatar and is training in Republic City to master airbending with Aang’s son, Tenzin (J.K. Simmons). However, there is a violent anti-bending movement rising to power led by Amon (Steve Blum), who has declared that he can remove any bender’s powers permanently.

In the previous episode, Korra and her friend Mako (David Faustino) went to rescue Mako’s brother, Bolin (P.J. Byrne), from Amon’s wrath at a rally. Korra has been deeply shaken by Amon’s ability to take away a bender’s powers but has not been dealing with the fear properly. Instead, she has been having nightmares.

Meanwhile, a Republic City councilman named Tarrlok gets permission to put together a task force to stop Amon from recruiting more anti-benders. He approaches Korra and asks for her help, but she refuses. He begins showering her with gifts in an attempt to bribe her, but she continues to refuse him.

In town, Mako literally bumps into the beautiful daughter of the automobile mogul, Hiroshi Sato, named Asami (Seychelle Gabriel). As an apology for nearly running him over, she offers to take him out to dinner, and the two hit it off. Asami is a big fan of the Fire Ferrets, Mako’s pro-bending team he shares with Bolin and Korra, and offers to sponsor them for the Pro-Bending Championship. Ecstatic, Mako accepts.

Tarrlok throws a party for Korra and invites her and Tenzin’s family to join in the festivities. Tenzin suspects a larger plan is in the works, but allows Korra and his family to attend. Korra meets Asami and sparks fly as she feels a bit jealous as she has been nursing a slight crush on Mako. Tarrlok invites the press to aggressively ask Korra questions about how to stop Amon, thereby pressuring her to join his task force.

Tarrlok’s task force learns of an underground group training chi blockers for Amon’s armada, and they shut them down, leading to Korra challenging Amon to a duel. Tenzin and Tarrlock warn her not to go, but she ignores them and heads to the duel. Near dawn, Amon shows up with his men not to fight her, but to send her a message.

He admits he could have easily taken away her bending and killed her, but he says he is going to destroy all the benders first, and save her for last. Amon knocks her out, and Tenzin finds her. Korra finally confesses how afraid she is of losing her bending and not being able to stop Amon, and Tenzin comforts her, closing out the episode.

The emotional twists and turns of this episode truly make it shine. Korra is brave and strong, but she is also very vulnerable and sensitive because she has so much responsibility as the Avatar. She struggles with admitting her fear and definitely has a lot to learn before she is ready to take Amon on head-to-head.

This episode is also a great exploration of Mako’s character. He acts rather closed-off around Korra because he does not trust her completely, yet around his brother and new love interest, Asami, he is kind, personable, and even a bit shy. We learn that the scarf he wears belonged to his father, and it is the only thing Mako has left of him after his parents were murdered when he was eight years old. It adds a layer of depth and significance to his character and makes him much more accessible.

Furthermore, Amon’s threatening presence became even more solidified with his direct threat against Korra. He has proven to be a cold, cruel, calculating force that Korra will have immense difficulty overcoming in the upcoming episodes. Special mention goes to Steve Blum, an incredibly well-known actor in the animation and anime world, for adding such a convincing layer of malice to the character.

The promo for next week promised the start of the pro-bending tournament, meaning Korra fans will be getting more of the fearsome Fire Ferrets and, thus, more interactions between Korra, Mako, and Bolin. There will be plenty of awesome action sequences and friction between the hotheaded Korra and stubborn Mako, much to the Makorra shipper’s delight.

‘The Legend of Korra’ premieres Saturdays at 11 a.m. EST. Be there! You won’t regret it.

Grade: 5/5

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