Avatar: The Legend of Korra

And Tarrlok has just become the most powerful bender in the series, sans perhaps the Avatar. 😐

Edit: This episode was a mixed bag for me. I dislike the new Team Avatar, by virtue of it being formed because, "Hey Aang had one!" The romance stuff is going to get on my nerves, Korra has become somewhat more unlikable(though still my favorite character) and Tarrlok has begun acting stupid.

On the flipside, the action was good, particular Korra vs Tarrlok. Tenzin is always fun, and the humor was good. The twist on the end was awesome and even though I dislike that Tarrlok seems on the way to being an out-in-out villain instead of just a slimey good guy, I'm still interested in seeing where this is going to go. A lot of explanation needs to be given.

Hmm....moon free blood bending? Looks like I have underestimated Tarrlok's abilities a tad too much. Though I would like to note that for a Water-bending avatar who had mastered waterbending, Korra under-performed IMO.

Though there has to be a reason why Tarrlok is doing all of this; he really can't be making all of his moves w/o a reason behind it.

Still I though this was a good episode overall.

It was good, more for the ending than the beginning. It will be interested to see what will happen in the next few episodes.

Holy ****balls! Damn that was an epic episode. Finally Korra cuts loose and does some epic bending. But what the **** is up with Tarlok? I'm really on the edge of my seat for next week. Why it be so loooooong!?

Here's hoping that Amon rescues Korra and she admits that he's right about benders abusing Non-benders and they team up to take down Waterbending Hitler and it would just be the best thing evaaaaaar!

Ok, I'll calm down now.

It will probably not go that way since Amon is still villain number 1 lol.

But yeah, I'm interested in seeing who'll beat Tarrlok. Who the hell can?

Katara?

By the looks of that flashback, Yakone was bending an entire courtroom including mother****ing Toph and Aang. And since I highly doubt court was in session during a full moon or even at night he probably has the same power as Tarrlok.

Huh...I'd heard of the name Yakone but the guy in the flashback hasn't been revealed to be him yet. Probably but not for sure. 😛

But yeah, if bloodbending has become this easy to do, all the other elements can piss off really.

C'mon its obviously him.

My guess will be that Amon can counter it with whatever the fvck lets him do spiritbending.

Originally posted by Nephthys
C'mon its obviously him.

My guess will be that Amon can counter it with whatever the fvck lets him do spiritbending.

Hey man, hey. Hey. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying. I'm just ****ing saying.

That said, I'm not sure if I like this direction they're taking with Tarrlok. Dude is one of my favorite characters but here he seemed uncharacteristically stupid.

I love it. Tarrlok is clearly completely batshit and it has something to do with whatever happened 42 years ago and judging from the way he got psycho-eyes when Korra compared him to Amon, something to do with him as well. So far Korra is really pulling off the elaborate, mysterious backstory thing and I'm loving it.

Also Tarrlok didn't really have much of a choice. Having the Avatar publically going against him and gunning for him would be a serious blow to him.

Yeah but he was never stupid. I mean, I have no idea what the reasoning behind him going all McCarthy is. Sure he wants to catch the bad guy but surely his previously established concern for his own reputation would keep him from doing something that drastic and stupid.

I guess it can be argued that the power got to his head...I guess. But that's just stupid to me.

Edit: That's another thing that annoyed me. Korra just suddenly dislikes Tarrlok...but I don't know why. Sure, he is slimey but he isn't the bad guy. And him chewing out Bei Fong on the radio, while mean, was justified. She gave her word that she and her benders would stop Amon if he tried anything and she failed. I honestly can't blame him for doing that.

By the way, Yakone means "blood in the snow" in Inuit. So thats some mad, crazy foreshadowing/symbolism for his bloodbending.

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
Yeah but he was never stupid. I mean, I have no idea what the reasoning behind him going all McCarthy is. Sure he wants to catch the bad guy but surely his previously established concern for his own reputation would keep him from doing something that drastic and stupid.

I guess it can be argued that the power got to his head...I guess. But that's just stupid to me.

Edit: That's another thing that annoyed me. Korra just suddenly dislikes Tarrlok...but I don't know why. Sure, he is slimey but he isn't the bad guy. And him chewing out Bei Fong on the radio, while mean, was justified. She gave her word that her and her benders would stop Amon if he tried anything and she failed. I honestly can't blame him for doing that.

IMO, Tarrlok wants to escalate the conflict with the Equalists. His twitch in this episode hints at something personal against Amon. Where Amon is concerned, if Tarrlok has a 'plan,' it's probably to whip Amon and the Equalists into a righteous frenzy, so that they'll a) step forward, and reveal themselves, and b) up the ante, in a way that justifies Tarrlok upping the ante on his end.

WTF? What does Tarrlok have to do to make you think he's a bad guy? Bloodbend Korra into submission and throw her into the back of a- oh wait! Tarrlok has been clearly powerhungry for at least a few episodes and frankly I would be disappointed if Korra hadn't of wised up to him by this ep.

Tarrlok is basically Waterbending Hitler now. He IS the bad guy. As for what made her distrust him, the new Metalbender chief is clearly in his pocket. Korra is obviously just smart enough to realise that Tarrlok has pretty much made himself Furher now.

Edit:

Even though Tarrlok is only 37 and the Yakone incident happened 42 years ago, they're too similar not to be related in some way.

Originally posted by Nephthys
IMO, Tarrlok wants to escalate the conflict with the Equalists. His twitch in this episode hints at something personal against Amon. Where Amon is concerned, if Tarrlok has a 'plan,' it's probably to whip Amon and the Equalists into a righteous frenzy, so that they'll a) step forward, and reveal themselves, and b) up the ante, in a way that justifies Tarrlok upping the ante on his end.

WTF? What does Tarrlok have to do to make you think he's a bad guy? Bloodbend Korra into submission and throw her into the back of a- oh wait! Tarrlok has been clearly powerhungry for at least a few episodes and frankly I would be disappointed if Korra hadn't of wised up to him by this ep.

Tarrlok is basically Waterbending Hitler now. He IS the bad guy. As for what made her distrust him, the new Metalbender chief is clearly in his pocket. Korra is obviously just smart enough to realise that Tarrlok has pretty much made himself Furher now.

But that is just a stupid plan. It didn't work when Korra called out Amon, why should it work for Tarrlok? All it does is give Amon plenty of ammunition for speeches. Amon has a plan and he isn't going to deviate from that. Tarrlok is just making himself look bad.

Oh he's a bad guy now haermm. But up until midway through this episode, the worst thing Tarrlok did was use the press to push Korra into his task force and be mean to Bei-Fong. The latter is justified and the former is dickish at best. He wasn't a villain, he was just a slimey politician. I can understand Korra not getting along with him but there are bigger things to worry about. Not to mention he and his team working with Korra could have gotten more done than the new Team Avatar.

So what? Tarrlok has shown himself to be fairly competent(until this episode) and has had the entire counsel in his pocket long before this. Quite honestly, Tarrlok was not the biggest concern Korra had and working with him would get a lot more done that working with 3 kids.

Until of course he turned out to be a "Mwahahahahaha Aizen meet Avatar" type villain. Now he is a big threat. Not as bad as Amon(since he is smarter), but pretty bad.

Look bad to whom? A bunch of non-benders? You really think Tarrlok gives a shit about non-benders at this point? I garuantee than in the papers the next day all that it would say is that Tarrlok put down an Equalist riot through his strong leadership and powerful show of force.

A slimy politician who controls the council, the Anti-Equalist task force and the police force and has shown inself to be extremely concerned with gaining power and glory for himself. Korra wasn't 'worried' about him at all. She just didn't want to work with him because she'd sus'ed him by that point.

No it wasn't? I never said it was. Korra was still trying to take down Equalists, she just didn't want to be Tarrloks puppet anymore. Up until he started arresting innocent people and her friends Korra wasn't actually going after Tarrlok at all. Amon was the threat, Tarrlok was the douchebag she wasn't listening to anymore.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Look bad to whom? A bunch of non-benders? You really think Tarrlok gives a shit about non-benders at this point? I garuantee than in the papers the next day all that it would say is that Tarrlok put down an Equalist riot through his strong leadership and powerful show of force.

A slimy politician who controls the council, the Anti-Equalist task force and the police force and has shown inself to be extremely concerned with gaining power and glory for himself. Korra wasn't 'worried' about him at all. She just didn't want to work with him because she'd sus'ed him by that point.

No it wasn't? I never said it was. Korra was still trying to take down Equalists, she just didn't want to be Tarrloks puppet anymore. Up until he started arresting innocent people and her friends Korra wasn't actually going after Tarrlok at all. Amon was the threat, Tarrlok was the douchebag she wasn't listening to anymore.

Anyone. Even benders would be able to see that he is going too far. And remember: Non-Benders are Amon's soldiers. They have a lot more of an incentive to join him since Tarrlok is doing what Amon said benders do.

Again, if he gets the job done who cares? He's not going to(at least, not until his sudden loss of intelligence) do anything rash and stupid because it makes him look bad. He'll only do that if he has a scapegoat like Bei-Fong. She should always of been suspecting of him but still worked with him. And he didn't seem to control her. And again, if he gets the job done, what's the harm?

She was never his puppet to begin with. She showed she could make decisions without Tarrlok's approval and even opposed Tarrlok about closing down the match. She has no reason to think that Tarrlok is anything but a slimey politician interested in political power(of which, the Avatar seems to have none). And yet Korra still decided it would be better to work with her friends(4 kids and a radio...definitely going to be better than the police force for sure) and then got all high and mighty with Tarrlok because she stopped a few guys(because he made her feel bad about being a shitty airbender).

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
Anyone. Even benders would be able to see that he is going too far. And remember: Non-Benders are Amon's soldiers. They have a lot more of an incentive to join him since Tarrlok is doing what Amon said benders do.

Again, if he gets the job done who cares? He's not going to(at least, not until his sudden loss of intelligence) do anything rash and stupid because it makes him look bad. He'll only do that if he has a scapegoat like Bei-Fong. She should always of been suspecting of him but still worked with him. And he didn't seem to control her. And again, if he gets the job done, what's the harm?

She was never his puppet to begin with. She showed she could make decisions without Tarrlok's approval and even opposed Tarrlok about closing down the match. She has no reason to think that Tarrlok is anything but a slimey politician interested in political power(of which, the Avatar seems to have none). And yet Korra still decided it would be better to work with her friends(4 kids and a radio...definitely going to be better than the police force for sure) and then got all high and mighty with Tarrlok because she stopped a few guys(because he made her feel bad about being a shitty airbender).

How exactly? The metalbenders didn't seem to have a problem with it, the council didn't seem to have a problem with it, theres no mention of regular benders having a problem with the new laws he's passing and he's skilled enough at manipulating the press to pull it off smelling like roses. I doubt the benders are going to get the true story. The only ones who are going to respond are Korra and co, and the Equalists, which only gives Tarrlok permission to crack down on them. It seems to me that he's actually being incredibly smart in doing this. It's the perfect setup for him sadly having to accept emergency powers to deal with this regretable situation.

Korra, obviously. 😉 You seem to have thought up what you think Korra 'should do' and are pissed that the writers disagree. I disagree as well. People don't calmly look at a situation and see what would be in their best interests to do. Especially Korra, the girl who's been controlled her whole life and has a dangerously short temper and the personality of a club. It only makes sense that when she see's Tarrlok manipulating her and the situation to his advantage that she'd respond negatively.

And clearly she sees that as enough to sever ties with him. I don't get what your problem is. First you're pissed that you think Tarrlok was acting stupid and now you're pissed that Korra is? Korra is stupid! Or at least, she's bullheaded and can act, y'know, exactly how she's acting and exactly as Tarrlok called her out on acting. This is all completely in character for her.

Originally posted by Nephthys
How exactly? The metalbenders didn't seem to have a problem with it, the council didn't seem to have a problem with it, theres no mention of regular benders having a problem with the new laws he's passing and he's skilled enough at manipulating the press to pull it off smelling like roses. The only ones who are going to respond are Korra and co, and the Equalists, which only gives Tarrlok permission to crack down on them. It seems to me that he's actually being incredibly smart in doing this. It's the perfect setup for him sadly having to accept emergency powers to deal with this regretable situation.

Korra, obviously. 😉 You seem to have thought up what you think Korra 'should do' and are pissed that the writers disagree. I disagree as well. People don't calmly look at a situation and see what would be in their best interests to do. [b]Especially Korra, the girl who's been controlled her whole life and has a dangerously short temper and the personality of a club. It only makes sense that when she see's Tarrlok manipulating her and the situation to his advantage that she'd respond negatively.

And clearly she sees that as enough to sever ties with him. I don't get what your problem is. First you're pissed that you think Tarrlok was acting stupid and now you're pissed that Korra is? Korra is stupid! Or at least, she's bullheaded and can act, y'know, exactly how she's acting and exactly as Tarrlok called her out on acting. This is all completely in character for her. [/B]

We're not seeing all of the benders of Republic City. If Tenzin, Korra, and Co are the only ones disgusted about what is going on, then Tarrlok or Amon deserve to win. Why would he need emergency powers? He has control of basically the whole city. He can't get anymore power. Which is likely the reason he has become stupid. Which in itself is just stupid.

The difference here is that Korra is meant to be seen as in the right, despite their being a lack of build up for this animosity. She starts saying things like "You need me but I don't need you." Why? Because he has the police in his pocket? That just means the forces of the city are united under one person to fight Amon...the only person in the city that has done any good against Amon. Korra has demonstrated that Tarrlok has no control over her so why does that change anything?

Tarrlok is acting stupid because he is passing laws that won't work. And the Korra thing wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the fact that we're supposed to see her as in the right. And to do that, Tarrlok has to start acting horrible even though he was never really like that before. It's just bad writing to me. One because of the above and two because...well let's be honest: Korra was really unlikable in the first episode. She had a good heart but she felt like being the Avatar entitled her to do whatever she pleased. That meant if she caused a ton of property damage just to catch 3 guys, she could get away with it. Now she is catching bad guys by causing property damage with friends...And, for me, that is just awful. She is acting just like she did in episode one, except here her actions are depicted as right because Tarrlok is lolevil.

Man Neph, you got me complaining about the episode and my favorite character.

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
We're not seeing all of the benders of Republic City. If Tenzin, Korra, and Co are the only ones disgusted about what is going on, then Tarrlok or Amon deserve to win. Why would he need emergency powers? He has control of basically the whole city. He can't get anymore power. Which is likely the reason he has become stupid. Which in itself is just stupid.

What, like the Nazi's deserved to win? Tarrlok is manipulating the situation amd making himself look like the saviour of benderkind. The populace is scared because of Amon, the police follow orders and the council are puppets. Basically in power isn't actually in power. If he was actually in charge he wouldn't need to ask the council for permission or merely 'advise' the police chief on matters. He could just rule.

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
The difference here is that Korra is meant to be seen as in the right, despite their being a lack of build up for this animosity. She starts saying things like "You need me but I don't need you." Why? Because he has the police in his pocket? That just means the forces of the city are united under one person to fight Amon...the only person in the city that has done any good against Amon. Korra has demonstrated that Tarrlok has no control over her so why does that change anything?

Korra is right, but not in all areas. She's still a stubborn teenager and she still needs to learn how to be spiritual and deal with these situations by actually thinking. This has been the point about her that has been stressed the most imo, in her actions and her inability to learn airbending. Since the first episode, as you said there have been times when Korra very clearly is not in the right on a situation. Did you even watch the episode? Look at when Tarrlok points out that he's handling things pretty much just like she is. Korra stumbles over her response because he's right. And thats amazing. When a villain can point that out and be right, unnerving the protagonist in that way? That's goddamn quality storytelling.

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
Tarrlok is acting stupid because he is passing laws that won't work. And the Korra thing wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the fact that we're supposed to see her as in the right. And to do that, Tarrlok has to start acting horrible even though he was never really like that before. It's just bad writing to me. One because of the above and two because...well let's be honest: Korra was really unlikable in the first episode. She had a good heart but she felt like being the Avatar entitled her to do whatever she pleased. That meant if she caused a ton of property damage just to catch 3 guys, she could get away with it. Now she is catching bad guys by causing property damage with friends...And, for me, that is just awful. She is acting just like she did in episode one, except here her actions are depicted as right because Tarrlok is lolevil.

I guess we'll see whether they'll work or not. as you've said he's been very effective in his hand-line approach so far, so I don't see why you think it won't.

Yeah he was. You may not have seen it, but Tarrlok was obviously a bad guy since he first appeared.

Korra unlikable in the first episode? You mean when she refused to stand by and let some thugs break up a shop or when she said she wanted to help Tenzin fix Republic City? And now? Fighting bankrobbers and the Equalist's? Trying to help that crowd? I can see how goddamn entitled she is, using her powers to help others. That b1tch.

Seriously she doesn't wreck the city any more than Superman does, and only to stop bad guys. Property damage? Effing lol! Give an earthbender 5 minutes and he'd have cleared everything up and even if not, keeping people safe and stopping the Equalist rightly trump some ****ing property damage. She's depicted as being right because she is.

Originally posted by TheAuraAngel
Man Neph, you got me complaining about the episode and my favorite character.

Yes, because you're ridiculously hard to please, and are being kind of whiny. You thought Tarrlok was this morally ambiguous anti-hero who is kind of a jerk but dammit he gets the job done, when actually he's a crazy fascist. Just because you were worng doesn't make the writing stupid. This has been the best written episode so far imo.

Edit: This post may have been more agressive than i intended. I don't mean to have a go at you Aura. I enjoy talking about this really.

Originally posted by Nephthys
What, like the Nazi's deserved to win? Tarrlok is manipulating the situation amd making himself look like the saviour of benderkind. The populace is scared because of Amon, the police follow orders and the council are puppets. Basically in power isn't actually in power. If he was actually in charge he wouldn't need to ask the council for permission or merely 'advise' the police chief on matters. He could just rule.

If every single one of them supported Tarrlok's obviously evil actions, then Amon can take the bending of every single person. Because honestly that means he is right. And basically in power is being in power. He doesn't seem to desire to get rid of Tenzin, who is the only person outside of his pocket. He seems content where he is. Bei-Fong's proposal just offered him a chance to pull a Xanatos Gambit.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Korra is right, but not in all areas. She's still a stubborn teenager and she still needs to learn how to be spiritual and deal with these situations by actually thinking. This has been the point about her that has been stressed the most imo, in her actions and her inability to learn airbending. Since the first episode, as you said there have been times when Korra very clearly is not in the right on a situation. Did you even watch the episode? Look at when Tarrlok points out that he's handling things pretty much just like she is. Korra stumbles over her response because he's [b]right. And thats amazing. When a villain can point that out and be right, unnerving the protagonist in that way? That's goddamn quality storytelling.[/B]

That is why she is my favorite character. The problem? It's stupid. Tarrlok can say that Korra acts like him but actions speak louder than words. Tarrlok at that point had done irredeemable things. Korra can feel slightly guilty about being a bit of a bully but really that is just dumb. It's not horrible storytelling but it can be told far better.

Originally posted by Nephthys
I guess we'll see whether they'll work or not. as you've said he's been very effective in his hand-line approach so far, so I don't see why you think it won't.

Yeah he was. You may not have seen it, but Tarrlok was obviously a bad guy since he first appeared.

Korra unlikable in the first episode? You mean when she refused to stand by and let some thugs break up a shop or when she said she wanted to help Tenzin fix Republic City? And now? Fighting bankrobbers and the Equalist's? Trying to help that crowd? I can see how goddamn entitled she is, using her powers to help others. That b1tch.

Seriously she doesn't wreck the city any more than Superman does, and only to stop bad guys. Property damage? Effing lol! Give an earthbender 5 minutes and he'd have cleared everything up and even if not, keeping people safe and stopping the Equalist rightly trump some ****ing property damage. She's depicted as being right because she is.

No, it will probably work. Bad writing tends to justify itself regardless. Like, say, everyone calling Shirahoshi a brave and strong person for not telling her dad about Hodi Jones...right when Hodi has them all hostage. Good job there kid.

The thing is, calling Tarrlok as a villain is easy. It's something everyone predicted. To me, that is just boring. It's so easy to spot that it's boring. I didn't want him to be the villain because, well, I think the alternative is more interesting and more subtle. Instead, Tarrlok started acting evil. And you cannot point to a single instance in the last 2 episodes he was in and call it evil.

Yes, she was lol. She tries to do good things(has a good heart) but she thinks because she is the Avatar that it excuses her. This is evident in the first episode. This is evident in the latest episode. Regardless of whether or not she is trying to do good things, the excuse of "I'm the Avatar so I can do this stuff" is unlikable. Korra is more complicated than that of course but that trait is still unlikable.

Yes, property damage. That thing she got in trouble for in the show. Then it was a bad thing, now it's not...because Tarrlok is the bad guy. Lin gives it to her word for word in episode one, "You can't just come here and do what you want." At the very least there is was at least a grey area of morality because Bei-Fong had a point. Here it's not because...well she is the Avatar and compared to the shit Tarrlok is doing, it hardly matters.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Yes, because you're ridiculously hard to please, and are being kind of whiny. You thought Tarrlok was this morally ambiguous anti-hero who is kind of a jerk but dammit he gets the job done, when actually he's a crazy fascist. Just because you were worng doesn't make the writing stupid. This has been the best written episode so far imo.

Edit: This post may have been more agressive than i intended. I don't mean to have a go at you Aura. I enjoy talking about this really.

I'm hard to please? Hardly. Keep in mind, overall I like the episode, mainly for the ending. And no, quite honestly I only thought of Tarrlok based on what I saw of him. I hoped he would be that. I knew there was a strong chance for him to be what he turned out to be(though no, I didn't expect these extremes so early). There really is nothing wrong in that stance. My hope simply didn't happen. And not really. The best episode was Voice in the Night, for me anyway.

Nah, it doesn't bother me. Truth be told it is fun to talk about things with someone who disagrees with ya. Educates them and yourself a bit more. It's a kids show and neither one of us loves it to the point to get genuinely mad about it. Least, I don't think.