How The Legend of Korra RUINED Aang 

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Aang didn't want to be the avatar in a world that needed him the most. Korra was eager to be the avatar in a world that didn't need her

I don’t agree that Aang was a deadbeat dad. That term is woefully abused as is. He was training Tenzin but didn’t realize how left out Bumi and Kya felt about it. He was a good dad but not a perfect one.

I didn't really have an issue with Korra being so different from Aang. Each Avatar is different from eachother. For example Yangchen vs Aang. While both are air nomads who were raised to be more peaceful and pacifist she was more comfortable becoming violent. Not only recommending Aang kill the fire lord but, according to her wiki, "Yangchen was feared for her fierce willingness to do whatever was required to maintain balance and peace throughout the world in her duty as the Avatar".

What makes both shows so good is that Aang was a pacifist in a world that needed a fearless warrior and Korra was a fighter in a world that needed diplomats

Always felt Korra was too rushed. The whole thing with Amon was such an interesting idea, not just the Bender vs Non-Bender thing but the idea that the world was so out of balance the Spirits themselves bestowed on Amon the ability to take bending away. There was a lot that could've been done with that.

I remember watching kora as it was coming out and the creators thought there was going to be only one season then after the first season ended they were greenlit for a second season and then after the second season ended they were green lit for two more. I think korra had some good ideas I just always wondered how different the show could be if the creators new it was going to be four seasons form the start.

Season 3 of Korra is precisely my favorite because of the juxtaposition of happiness and sorrow that you mention. Korra goes from cocky and wanting to confront the Red Lotus to mentally destroyed and traumatized. Meanwhile, you have the Air Nation going from a ragtag group bound by tradition to moving beyond its historical roots to acknowledge a younger prodigy. It's a beautiful moment.

Another subversion I enjoyed: Aang's journey goes as follows: He must face the real word (violence and use of such, responsibility, etc), but, truthfully, he isn't ready and doesn't want to. The rest of his journey is going through a legendary adventure that seems as though just that: a legend. We see these two moods and story telling formats: reality vs fiction (all fiction, but I mean that in terms of the sort of trope-heavy good vs evil type things with happy endings. Again, not without sorrow. Not undermining Aang, just giving contrast). Aang finally wins a happy ending by facing reality and finds himself happy in reality as well: enjoying life and the mundane responsibility and everyday worries of love and politics and parenthood. Korra's story goes the opposite direction: She starts off wanting to be a hero, wanting to be in a sort of story with insurmountable odds, but odds that she can at least fight against. Instead, she mus journey through harsh reality and trauma. She loses often, victory is hard won, and she makes mistake after mistake. The errors of the past are brought to front and center. Things are hardly ever fair. No villain simply is just bad. She earns her happy ending by not fighting for it, but through acceptance for circumstance and compassion won through trauma. Her ending is magical and fantastical: going to the spirit world, quite literally a magical place, hand-in-hand with the one she loves. As you can tell, that video made me think. A lot.

The idea that Aang was a "deadbeat dad" is a bit strange to be upset about when he was THE AVATAR. I don't think it is an understatement to say that most Avatars are doomed to a life torn between their duties to the world and their personal needs and wants, and Aang has always been the type of person to put the world above his own personal goals. The only time he has ever put his personal needs and wants above the world is when he had to let go of his love for Katara to willingly control the Avatar state, and Katara ended up being the love of his life. It's not surprising he neglected his family to do the things the Avatar is rather unrealistically expected to do, especially since he has trauma related to him abandoning the world after being frozen for a century and assumed dead after that.

As much as I love korra and all the amazing things that happened in the show I will never get over the fact that she lost her connection to all previous avatars, having the knowledge and experience of the past avatars, that’s what made the avatar so powerful in the first place.. I can only wonder how powerful the next avatar will be if there will be any.

Thank you for participating in this collaborative project! Your webcomics looks legit good!

I would not say a father showing some favoritism is the same as being a deadbeat lol, I also feel Aang's faults as a parent are sometimes not considered with full context for his motivations, while a person is ultimately responsible for their actions I think it's worth acknowledging Aang's extenuating circumstances as the last airbender especially after already having two non-airbender children and katara ain't getting any younger. It's not that surprising that when the last child Aang is probably ever going to have finally ends up being an airbender that Aang would get tunnel vision on teaching Tenzin everything he can because he's also not going to live forever and once he goes that's it, there's literally no one left of the original airbenders the genocide committed by sozin is basically complete once Aang dies so it makes sense he would want to pass the torch in as complete and thorough a way as possible with his one airbending child. Is that fair to Kya and Bumi? no, of course not, but I think there's way more nuance considering he is literally the last of an extinct group of people, he literally has his entire culture resting on his shoulders and only has so much time to ensure the world remembers his people and their culture. I mean it's literally generational trauma, without the air nomad genocide Aang probably had the capacity to be an amazing father to ALL of his children, regardless of whether they were benders or not or what kind of benders they were.

I've always cherished this scene. Only scene in avatar to make me teary every time. Korra's reaction to the amazing things happening around her after recently beginning one of her hardest trials ever is so touching

My big issue with Korra was that each season felt like it was beginning to touch on some interesting ideas, but those ideas don't really get followed through. I really liked season 1 for the way it introduced Korra as a character and how it developed the world into a modern setting that still felt like it made sense. The discovery of metal bending by Toph in TLA single handedly makes the stark leap from the very "old" world of TLA to the distinctly modern one in Korra feel natural and like it makes sense. The Equalists are a really interesting group of villains to lead into the new show with, and they start a pattern of each season throwing into doubt the role of the avatar in this new world. My big issue with this is that each season asks a different question of what the avatar is supposed to be, none of which feel necessarily connected to the last philosophically. The spirit world stuff in season 2 is kind of interesting but I found this season to be by far the weakest both narratively and in terms of tone. The final battle of a giant glowing Korra against a giant glowing Unalaq felt more akin to the climax of a Dragon Ball Z arc than it did a battle between an avatar and her evil foil. Every other avatar being effectively destroyed by Vaatu also didn't sit well with me. I appreciate the concept of "out with the old, in with the new" which as you cover in this video via Tenzin, but connecting to past lives is a core tenet to the concept of the avatar. Getting rid of all those past lives just kind of unilaterally and unceremoniously I don't think does anything for the story, and I think we subsequently miss out on what could have been insightful interactions between Korra who for all intents and purposes is the first "modern" avatar. Aang helped usher in this new world, but Korra was the first to exist in it and be moulded by it, and have her role as the avatar questioned both directly by people and indirectly by circumstance. Seeing the spirits and the two primordial forces behind why the avatar is so powerful, was kind of cool, but it definitely de-mystified the concept (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Zaheer in the follow up season was sort of cool even though some of his ideals and speeches were reminiscent of some 4chan threads. His idea that disorder is order is a little infantile and the kind of thing you might stumble upon and think is deep in high school, but the avatar being the ultimate figurehead of established order and being the final obstacle to what he would describe as his ideal world is interesting, although it once again brings yet another question about what the role of the avatar in this new world is. Asking these questions isn't inherently a problem, but each season following a different thread I think makes it feel jumbled. All of the story beats could have been mostly the same, but the motives of the different antagonists could have been changed to all be more in line with each other or more directly connected which would feel more impactful over time as Korra continues to see the same themes popping up from each of these seemingly unconnected antagonists. A lot of the show seems to be focused around Korra's own doubts about her ability to be an effective avatar and her ability, when I think a very similar and more poignant focus could have been her doubting the role of the avatar at all.

The only real problem I personally have with The Legend of Korra, is how they butchered the spirits. In AtLA the spirits were strange, sometimes creepy looking beings, and like Ko (or Co) that 'play' according to their rules no matter what with motives unbeknownst to "mere humans". Ko could've easily forced Aang into making an expression by poking/attacking him, and yet left it all to Aang himself. Why? We don't know. Those are his strange, possibly unknowable motives. In Korra, the spirits were mostly just a mess. Butchered to a point where there were good and bad spirits, and all seemingly behaving like mere beasts. They took out all depth of them, and now we're left with spirits that are there but 99% of the time don't leave a lasting impression if any at all.

I liked the Legend of Korra. I watched both ATLA and the sequel while they were being aired. I tend not to judge sequels too harshly but that's just me. Great video btw

She destroyed the avatar cycle, thus erasing a main theme of the universe, because she was too bratty to listen to her teacher.

I still hate the legend of Korra and it will never change my mind it ruined the prequel Lore

My one major problem with Korra is how much it - the show itself, as in the actual camera - seems to revel in watching her suffer. Every season. It loves having people lecture her about how bad she is as they physically torment her, with disturbing lingering shots and scenes of her in pain or being humiliated or just getting the snot beaten out of her. Then some contrivance comes along to pull her out of the fire, though still leaving her thoroughly damaged one way or another in the aftermath. As cool as your reading of this scene is, and as much as I like Jinora, to me it’s just one more scene reveling in Korra’s weakness and pain. I get that there’s catharsis in survival for those who’ve been through trauma. But I feel like the show goes past that, and too far.

To get it out of the way at the start: I actually really like Korra as a character- but dislike the sequel (not hate) due to a different array of issues that I personally didn’t like. So take this with a grain of salt~ To start, I originally had a really sour opinion on Aang as a father as I bought into the idea that he was a deadbeat dad- that Bumi and Kya were in the right and Tenzin was in the wrong for not acknowledging what they were insinuating. But, I had to deconstruct this opinion over time as I myself have a really, really bad relationship with my own father. Specifically that in my own life, he would bring me places but it was always in attempt to meet women and play on the idea of a single father (when in reality I mostly lived with my mom who never did these things since she worked most of the time and spent her free time with my sister, grandmother, and I) but I didn’t really think of what it meant as a kid as I do now. That experience 110% warps my world views more often than I care to admit. And so I now just see Aang as someone that went from having to save the world from an immediate threat, and losing his childhood and the years that are supposed to shape us into who we are before trauma or tragedy have a chance to change that growth; to someone that had to find a new purpose. After all, where do you go after saving the world? Do you find a new enemy? Do you try to settle? Personally I don’t see an Avatar after wartime just sitting down and stopping… especially one that is basically still a child even if he’s well over 100. As to why I don’t like the sequel- the start really, really still grates on me. Like I said, I like Korra as a character. I also believe that she’s a good Avatar. My issues stem from how she was presented (being a child prodigy of all but one element) and instead of just aging her up and showing that she had already *learned* one or more elements by having the privilege that Aang lacked- being able to travel and find teachers without having to fear being kidnapped, tortured or at worst- executed. Instead she was shown as a child bending three elements at once- and that just absolutely did not do the sequel any favors in my personal opinion. This being led by the Equalists did not really help since they most of the time felt rushed into me. I mean, Korra gets to what amounts as an international capital/hub and immediately gets arrested for fighting criminals as a vigilante and meets the daughter of Toph. It was a lot to take in; though I do have an appreciation of the Pro-Bending scenes that follow. From there it’s just a large swath of things that would make my already essay-length comment become a short-story. In short: hated the destruction of the Avatar Cycle, didn't like the wasted potential of Kuvira, and I loathe the love-triangle stuff in just about any and all stories. All this said- I like Korra. She’s strong, smart, and being bull-headed isn’t always a bad thing. Heck, look at Toph. She got jailed and in return learned how to bend metal AND then escape after laying a trap. The other option would have been getting shipped back to her parents without anyone knowing. And as for Aang- nobody's perfect. Literally no one. That doesn’t make him a bad man or a bad father. Anyway… thanks for reading if anyone actually did? lol

I feel like Aang would've definitely loved the new Air Nation, while it might've taken him a little time to come to that conclusion I believe he would've loved it

Tenzin is my favorite character in the entire franchise and you brought out so many of the reasons why I feel that. Despite me not being the biggest fan of LoK (I personally think the show would have massively benefited from being greenlight for 4 seasons from the start) I find his character so compelling and rich. Not to mention that JK Simmons does an excellent job in the role.

I still think the issue of making Aang a bad parent is too big. I mean can anyone really picture Katara just sitting back while Aang ignores his non air bending children? If he did accidentally do this should would have stopped it pretty early on. They could have done the same thing by making it a conflict between what Aang said and taught and what Aang did. Aang in reality was a pretty radical air nomad. He got married and had kids, something we are never shown air nomads doing before the war. He is very in tune with his emotions where most seem to act like monks. He enjoys showing off and getting attention. He constantly looks for connections in the world be It new friends romantic or just ways to help people. plus he is trained by a less traditional teacher as a kid. On the other hand he is the last of the air nomads so feels he needs to pass on all o the traditions and keep the air nation alive in some way.

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See, my big issue here isn't that Aang ended up being a poor father to two of his children- I really don't like that, granted, it doesn't feel at all like how he'd act, but at least I can follow the thought process. No, what gets me is that Aang _is_ still technically around- Korra could talk to him, there's the manifestation technique that Kiyoshi and Roku employed, spirits can bleed into the physical world during the solstices, etc. There was ample opportunity, not just on-camera but before the series even started, for Aang to explain his viewpoint and actually have a dialogue with his children. And you don't even need to fully exonerate him for his actions, ultimately he could still have been seen as flawed and wrongdoing, but at least he could be allowed to articulate why he acted the way he did and have an actual heart-to-heart with his kids about it. We didn't get that. Instead, Bumi and Kaya just essentially drop into our laps that "Yeah, no, dad sucked," and ultimately the siblings reconcile and Tenzin comes into his own, but we're still left with this new version of Aang and just expected to roll with it, and not long after Aang is literally scrubbed from existence with all but one of the rest of the Avatars. "Yeah, that character you liked and watched grow and develop for three seasons and change? He was a dick and he's gone now, have fun with that." I don't care what kind of thematic message they were going for, that was shoddily done and didn't do enough to balance out the sour taste it left, so the impact ultimately doesn't land. (And this is just one of a multitude of such issues I have with Korra. I'm happy so many people like and enjoy the series, truly I am, but I just can't count myself among them.)

Honestly I find Legend of Korra frustrating because I *almost* love it. Legend of Aang had its own flaws, but they're more like chips around the edges. With Legend of Korra, I find the little niggles too numerous and disruptive to what could have been. I think you make good points here and I definitely agree that season 3 was some of the best storytelling in the show. I also love Korra and her squad as characters. Yet I don't rewatch her story the way I do Aang (and Zuko).

Honestly it never sat right with me that Aang would be a neglectful father. I think he might initially attach to the air ending child a bit more but Katara definitely wouldn’t have let him neglect if his two other children for very long. They kept eachother grounded in the show so well, I felt like they just disrespected those characters

This, right here, the style of story that is Korra and, as you said, how it deconstructs The Last Airbender is why I say DON'T WATCH KORRA RIGHT AFTER THE LAST AIRBENDER. Both really good, and really worth the time, but if you go into Korra off the back of Aang's journey then you are going to have the wrong expectations, and it is going to feel bad. That isn't to say don't watch the first before Korra, just put some time between them. because Korra deconstructs like it does it helps to know where it is coming from, what it is deconstructing, but with some time between I think it becomes easier to appreciate the story that is Korra.

I think most of us understand that humanizing your heroes by giving him certain undesirable traits is a good thing, so portraying him as a neglectful parent already made sense considering he had no parents of his own, no rolemodel to live up to. But more than that, for Korra to become the emotianal core of the story, for her to be as human as Zuko was in ATLA, her predecessor had to be shown as human aswell. So Aangs retroactive character development in season 2 was one of the most important things they could've done IMO.

i actually saw legend of korra BEFORE i ever saw last airbender. legend of korra is what got me INTO avatar in the first place, and i love it dearly.

Another thing to kind of add to the whole defacing of Aang’s legacy is that the things that “deface” him are very real, and very reasonable things to come from Aang. The big one is that he favors Tenzin far more than his other kids, and was very distant from them. This makes sense when you remember one of the biggest traumas Aang has is that he’s the last survivor of a genocide, and that to him Tenzin was the one thing that kept his culture (that he held dearly) alive. It’s not an excuse for being a shitty father, but it makes sense Aang would make this mistake.

I like the way the avatar kids discussion about their dad concludes. Tenzin apolgizes and admits their father was not perfect and let his responsibilities consume him too much. Kya and Bumi apologize and admit that their jealousy and hurt did not leave room to acknowledge Aang had a responsibility as the last Airbender and they love their dad. And of course Aang would go overboard with passing on his culture. He lost his first family and his entire people and culture. Imagine the shock he felt when his first born was the first nonbender born to an Airbender that he felt, imagine the mix of fear and joy he felt when his daughter started water bending and he wondered if airbending would die with him.

It’s been 10 years since this show came out? Damn I feel old

It's interesting to hear you say that the old ways and traditions of the Airbenders are no longer relevant because that made me think about how in Book 4, just three years later, they wear these flying squirrel jumpsuit things, instead of the classic robes. They no longer use glider staffs because they have become their own gliders, just another thing that has changed for the Air Nomads. Even Tenzin adopts this new change in his warddrobe, which admittedly, looks really weird on him because he looks like an absolute boss in his cloak and robes, but it's just another representation of just how far he has come since Book 1, too.

Jinora was such an amazing piece of the series. I think the ceremony made me tear up as much as the actual ending of ATLA.

LOK did not dismantle Aang’s legacy as much as it dismantled our *idealized perceptions* of Aang and the Gaang’s legacy. LoK added new but consistent depths to Toph and Aang that challenged us to love them in spite of their imperfections and failings. The writers never shied away from showing how trauma affects kids in ATLA, but now in LOK we see those traumatized and abused kids we loved and related to become damaged adults who leave behind complicated legacies and estranged families. Like Tenzin, the idea of Aang being a deadbeat dad shocks us at first, but it also asks us take a second look at Aang’s story and try to find the details we may have missed. And like Tenzin, by letting go of what we thought and expected out of Aang we gain an even stronger appreciation for everything that he worked for and everything he lost to achieve it, just as we learn to love Korra for both her shortcomings, her success, and her journey.

It sucks that Korra didn't have the time to slowburn anything, cause they didn't think they'd get more than 1 season in the first place. 💜⚡️

It will never be okay to tear down a beloved protagonist to build up a sequel, just like it's never okay to tear down a person to build up your self-esteem.

Legend of Korra had pacing issues and the abysmal love triangle and relationship progression hurt the first two seasons. And Unalaq was terrible.

I liked the evolution of the air nation. It felt natural considering the people who joined were not airbenders by birth and were not raised as peaceful nomadic monks, but your average modern citizen. I think it would also only be natural for them to discontinue their Pacifist ways considering the last air nomads were literally wiped out.

I like the idea of Kora being more hardheaded, but I felt that the first thing that alienated me from the series was her bending 3 elements first thing rather than just water and going on an adventure to learn which could have gone well with some of the villains anyways

I don't think they really needed to deconstruct Aang as a person. He wasn't perfect by any means. The stuff about him favoring Tenzin over his other kids honestly could have been written better because I honestly don't believe Aang wouldn't at least try to find some way of spending time with all of his kids at once. I could see the frustration of Aangs other kids given he had to spend a lot of time with Tenzin and a lot of attention because he was the only other Airbender in the family. But it was the fact he brought Tenzin to places and didn't bring his other kids that bothered me. Also, I feel the scene itself isn't really meant to deconstruct Aang but to deconstruct the culture he lived in. A person isn't defined by their culture. I mean in ATLA Aang had to go out into the world and see the types of changes that went on in it. His past lives even told him. "As the avatar your duty is to the world." So even back then they knew that the way of the nomads wasn't good in a world that's always changing and growing. The scene is still marvelous though and I like your comments on it.

loved the video! I think that if you could play the scene you were talking about at the end after your last speech but before the outro it would be a wonderful addition

I can live with what happened with The Change-Up between Aang and Korra what I cannot deal with is the absolute drastic spiritual change of the show and that is what ruined it for me. In Avatar The Last Airbender we see multiple different cultures we see lots of traditional things and it has a real spiritual feel about it which the show is supposed to have. It's supposed to be a mystical like journey and whilst they did not want to make them exactly the same and I get that turning it into Republic city which is like I said a drastic change it was too overwhelming for me and a lot of other fans. There were just too many technological advancements that happened way too fast I understand that they are benders and they have different kinds of advantages than us nonbenders would have but it still seems highly unlikely when you think of real-world mechanics as well as adding the world of avatars mechanics it still doesn't seem like it would be that fast. Just after a couple of decades should not be enough to create cars and other advancements like the flying machines. Hot air balloons I can understand because we already had that in after the last airbender and yes they had machines like tanks but they were powered by bending and they were all more naturalistic kind of Machinery whereas in Legend of Korra it's more electronic and more scientific it had a totally different feel and it didn't bring back any of the Nostalgia that was needed for the show to become an absolute hit. The only redeeming quality that I saw in Legend of Korra were the villains they were very different they were a lot darker and I kind of like that however they were too easy to defeat and the last Baddie that we get is basically just a woman who wants to take Republic City because she thinks it's a territory of the earth Kingdom and the Earth Queens already dead so her War really feels meaningless it just kind of seems like a bad Arc to use for the finale of the show the one prior to it was so devastatingly it dramatic and it brought back that little piece of spirituality Unilock becoming one with vaatu was horrifyingly pleasing because we lost Rava and we also saw that there is a Dark Avatar now and it let up for more questions of are we going to see more dark avatars what's going to happen afterwards that was a good point to stop but instead it continued and it didn't add anything further to it. One can argue that the spirit portals added something to it but it really didn't and whilst I will say I love the lgbtq representation of Asami and Korra getting together that's again another Arc that just seems random I get where they could have the connection but it just doesn't feel like it would flow correctly and I'm not saying that because it's an lgbtq relationship I'm a transgender woman and I'm all about lgbtq relationships but this one just like I said it feels random and I feel like korra would need more time to reflect on her own kind of thoughts and feelings after breakup after break-up sometimes you just need time to reflect on your own s*** and Korra never seems to really have time to do that strong independent woman that's had a lot of hardships and I feel like a great ending would have been she's better off on her own because she unlike other avatars feels like I can be happy on my own so I can protect those that matter to me whilst protecting the world and not fearing for them but then again that's just my opinion I love your video it was very well-thought-out

TLoK didn't live up to the legacy that TLAB left. However nothing ever would have. I think Korra was fine as a story, I liked it quite a bit.

a personal thing which peeved me about korra was the setting, avatar takes place in very asian inspired areas and the way the different cultures of the world of avatar is portrayed, so while the idea of a city made from the 4 nations coming together sounded like a cool idea, its actual execution left a lot to be desired, specifically how, despite the asian cultures of the 4 nations the writers decided to make it... new york this always annoyed me as someone who lives in south east asia, a place which is generally a massive culture mixing pot seeing them take the idea of an asian culture mixing pot and making new york always just annoyed me, there was a lot that one could do with the setting but it ended up being... bland

Honestly it makes sense that Korra is so different from aang. They established that each avatar is different and aang grew up not wanting to be the avatar as a nomad while korra grew up hearing stories of aang and wanted to be avatar and was also a teenage girl vs aangs young boy. Plus water tribe is very different from air nomads.

Honestly as time moves on, i find myself loving Korra more and more. I love the team that put both stories together, if for no other reason than they had resepct enough for their audience to challenge them. Few creators in their positions would willingly risk it but they stuck to their vision and it shows, i think it really paid off.

Great video essay, as always. Could you briefly elaborate how Star Wars was an inspiration and what aspects were influenced? I really cannot see much.

Korra's concepts settings and arcs had 1000% potential to be telling a story that challenges ATLA and would be legendary in it's own way. But the era, the formatting, and the writing outside of what was included in the video kept it from that. They all connect too. The era caused the romances that broke Mako's role in the show. The identical episode season format prevented room for proper writing with big themes under small events like ATLA and not just the reverse. It killed Korra's typersonality, history, and avatar world lore and building. The writing directions they chose caused minimal impact from Bolin and Asami.

I always thought that Aangs favoritism for Tenzin made sense, not that I believe that Aang didn't care about his other kids, but he finally felt like he had someone to give his culture to. He lost his culture and now got to bring it back. I love Korra and I think it's a great show

Perfectly stated. Whenever I think of LoK, I think of her last conversation with Tenzin which I think touches on the foundation of her entire journey. She says she knows she was in a dark place but knew why she had to go through that. She continues, ""I Needed To Understand What Real Suffering Was, So I Could Become More Compassionate To Others Even To People Like Kuvira." This journey isn't as dramatic as Aangs and I think that's why some people find her a bit distasteful. She was flawed and boastful at the start with grandiose ideas towards herself. She basically had to be broken down and built up to become the Avatar the world needed.

Yeah, careful with the title and thumbnail there.

Personally, I can't really compare Korra's arc to Zuko's. Whereas I could excuse some Zuko's behaviors because of his abusive background, Korra did not face even slightly similar upbringing and her making the same mistakes over and over again cannot really be excused in the same way. Because of this her ark is received so differently by many fans, including me. Also, yes I LOVE Tenzin and hate it when Korra constantly dismisses him. And yes sacrificing Aang did feel like a great betrayal. I don't hate Korra as a show but I do feel scarred by it because it changed a part of my childhood that I considered sacred.

Nope, Korra started out on a bad foot for me with her bursting through a wall, knowing 3 of the 4 elements from birth, and shouting "I'm the air bender deal with it!", but she did eventually and painstakingly win me over. The shows depiction of Aang as a bad dad, however, will never be forgiven because it just doesn't work, more so given what a stiff Tenzin turned out to be despite being Aang's supposed favorite.

What killed this show for me is the end of season 2, spoiler warnings Korra defeats unalaaq or whatever his name is but is forced to RE-START THE WHOLE AVATAR CYCLE it was my favorite segment of the original show where you learn about the previous avatars struggle and their story and wisdom now wiped forever, what really made me like these segments was the avatar wasn't perfect he's still human still flawed and in need of advice from previous avatars who have gone through the same struggle and learned, that was what made avatar so dear to me

I think the fact they were on the threat of cancellation every season is the biggest problem with Korra, each season they had to be ok with it being the last.... That is hard to do when telling a story that crossed multiple seasons. All your other points are great I just felt this needed to be said.... I do like Korra as a whole by the way.

Great video on both a writing perspective and how a sequel works. Such a great writing advice.

Thank you for analyzing this scene and the series as a whole. I was never able to see Avatar after season 1 on TV due to scheduling conflicts, and had issues watching Korra after season 1 too. But I absolutely love the series except for season 2. The story was well written in seasons 1, 3, and 4, and certain aspects of season 2 were good. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it because of how different it was from the first season of Avatar.

That's a very interesting way to put things! Thanks for this!

I didn't actually see it as Aang's legacy being abandoned at first, but now that you explain it this way, it makes a lot of sense. Thing is, that wasn't the reason I disliked LoK. I'm not gonna be some contrarian and say nothing of value came from the series, and if anything this video only makes me love my favorite scenes from it even more. LoK just... has a _lot_ more things to dislike than the abandonment of Aang lmao. Mako, Book 2, Raava and Vaatu, bad romance conflict, _giant robot,_ etc. But that's just my perspective

If I am being honest, I loved the deconstructive approach, though they did go a bit far. I love the idea that the avatar is just a person and that anyone with that much power can make mistakes. Though I wish they went with Kyoshi for that. Her story does NOT make her seem like a good person if you really think about what she did. In fact, you could argue that there are a few times when if she had done nothing, everything would have been better. But because she has this power, she feels like even kings need to bow to her. If they wanted to question the Avatar, they could have used that as a starting place. Plus, you could argue that by opening the spirit portals, Korra was undoing the biggest and worst thing the Avatar ever did. The avatar Broke the world and decided what counted as "balance" just because they had too much power for people to fight against. I mean, is there even such thing as the "spirit world," or is it just a world humans equally belong in, and the avatar just locked us and the lion turtles on this side. I mean, the spirits flooded into the "human world" when the portal was open, so they don't see any reason not to go in. What reason do humans not have to start building in the spirit world? The comics go into this, but they act like the spirit world is sacred. Yet we know it is just a world that the avatar decided the spirits get to keep while taking the entire world full of "spirit wilds" for humans. It was an arbitrary decision, that the spirits clearly never saw a reason to honor with how any forest spirit can seemingly pop into the real world and even take prisoners.

Whilst I don’t hate LOK; I have plenty of problems with it that have nothing to do with the characters The world was what I hated the most; went from an eastern-fantasy setting to an english-steampunk setting in 2 generations for example I also hated how with Korra they ended the Avatar’s lineage which I definitely dislike The biggest problems with a character in LOK is Bolin that definitely doesn’t have Sokka’s smartness and instead is just lucky I also dislike how rare bending forms became so common; lighting and metal-bending were unique powers that now everyone has; it diminishes Zuko’s jurney to learn and fail to use lightings if now that orphan dude who fights in the arena can do that too and everyone works on lighting-bender based machines

My biggest issue with Korra that she always gets her way. No matter how many people, tenzin especially, she randomly picks fights with anyone for no reason. In episode 1, I’ve thought the whole purpose she ran away from home this to meet up with tenzin to master air bending since it’s the only element she has hard time bending. But instead she rather do probending and blames tenzin for teaching her the wrong way. To her pro ending is improving her skills. I was like how?? What about airbending?? That’s what the whole f**king premise of why you’re there in republic city.

This is a very good take on the subject. Even though I've seen so many videos from people who bash the series to no end, I can see the value in letting go of the past and pursuing an unknown and unfamiliar but promising future. Granted those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it but disregarding the future entirely can be just as detrimental.

One thing I don't entirely think you emphasized in this video that is present in the scene is that, not only is the air nation's progress an abandonment of Aang, it's also in a way a rejection of the Avatar as a concept. In the past, the avatar was a force to bring balance to the world and between nations and by taking up that mantle in Korra's absense, it calls into question the need for an avatar at all. This is why I believe Korra sheds a tear in the end of the scene. The hardship and pain she just endured at the hands of Zaheer was with intent to bring an end to the avatar, and in a way by the air nation taking up her responsibilies Zaheer got exactly what he wanted: a world where the world no longer needs an avatar.

Great video. If this was their intention, it was pretty brave of them considering that they apparently weren't sure if they would get a sequel.

I don't disagree that this deconstruction is what some fans got hung up on. I think the reason the series gets so much criticism is twofold. One part is this, the contrast with and deconstruction of the previous series. The other part is the way they failed really explore the conflicts that they presented. It's been a while since I've watched the later seasons, but I think they do a better job in later seasons. Season one they fail to really explore the bender nonbender conflict, making the equalist cause seem like it has no merit. Season two has the baffling choice of explaining the avatar with a "good" spirit in opposition to a "bad" spirit. I liked the world building of avatar wan, but also it managed to completely undercut the cultural stories of the origin of bending and undercut the idea of the avatar maintaining balance. It's frustrating not because the show was bad, but because you can see the ways it could have been great.

I know this video is a year old but I remember waiting atla to come on every week. What sucks is there were so many plot holes at the end of atla (yes I’m aware of the comics) however there were so many things viewers wanted to see animated with voice acting. Like zuko finding his mom that was probably the biggest plot hole. Or seeing the after effects of the 100 year war and yeah it’s talked about in LOK But just seems to be overlooked almost as if it’s not important

I remember watching the avatar growing up and bits of Korra. So when I got older I rewatched the avatar and fell in love with it and tried to watch Korra but I just couldn’t no matter how much I wanted to I couldn’t. This video isn’t gonna make me watch it but I can appreciate its existence. Change is something many people fail to accept. This video describes the beauty and growth that comes with change. So thank you.

Janora getting airbender tatoos at a younger age than Aang is ridiculous...the only reason Aang got his so young is because he was the Avatar

I generally like Korra (the character and the show), but I don’t see how them trying to intentionally undermine atla is a positive for the show. There are ways to contrast it without trying to tarnish the original show. Things like how Korra always wanted to be the Avatar but the world rejecting her is great, as it’s the opposite of Aang, who didn’t want to be the Avatar but the world desperately needed him. I really like this contrast, since it’s showing how the world has changed without painting Aang or the previous show in a negative light. I also like the attempt to make all the villains more nuanced and sympathetic, rather than just a power hungry monster like Ozai (they failed here but at least they tried).

Happy 10th Anniversary Legend of Korra!!

Everyone calls Aang a dead beat dad but he literally had no exposure to fathers until he traveled the world. Aang spent time with tenzin because in his culture, a father is a teacher. His idea of growing older would be to take care of the temple and mentor all the younger airbenders like the monks. Since bumi couldnt bend and kya was a water bender, he figured they would be raised with their own mentors.

My problem with Korra is just one, the death of all other reincarnation of Avatars, that was one great concept that was forgotten and unexplored, if wasn't for that, she would just have passed as one more avatar on the line, doesent like it go to the next, but that classifies her as the worst avatar in history...

Despite my complicated feelings toward Korra as a series and my distaste for her as a character, Jinora's tattoo ceremony is the most beautiful scene in the entire show IMHO. It's the only part of this "leaving the past behind" trajectory (which overall I hate) that feels respectful. Rather than Jinora dethroning her Grandfather as the youngest Airbender in history, it feels more like a passing of the mantle, of her assuming her place as Aang's rightful successor, a task which Tenzin tried to take on even though he was ill prepared because he had to, because at the time there was no one else, but Jinora is not only knowledgeable of the traditions and teachings of her heritage but has internalized their meaning, ensuring that the best of it will survive into the coming generations without Tenzin's rigidity. What I read into that moment is not casting Aang aside, but Jinora growing into the roles and responsibilities he once held as leader of their Air Nomads, something more important now than ever since there's an actual nation again with no connection to their prewar predecessors.

Korra was a subversive version of the story of Aangs, but the meta story doesnt just end there. After many years of pondering why i love Aangs story (and Korea season 1) and dislike the majority of Korras story, i've come to the conclusion that Korras story lacked an end vision. Since Aangs story revolved around a direct villain, firelord Ozai, the story naturally funnels towards a single goal, Ozai's defeat. Its a complex story that allows villain charactere like the fire nation and Zuko to become more than evil. Korra's story lacks a clear single enemy and thus the writing team were able to explore many different facets of human sociology, but not enough time to fully develop each character, culture, emotional detail. As your video concludes, the main (if not only) goal was to deconstruct Aang as a character. Korra foes thru so much throughout her story, that we as an audience cannot bebfully confident that she has recovered and conquered her demons. If anything, she became worse for wear. Aang's struggle to fight Ozai and his own destiny as the Avatar is a light of Hope that shows people they have a responsibility to the world, yet their desitines are their own to manifest. Unfortunately Korras story shows time and time again, sometimes self inflicted by Korra, that the world is a non-ended cycle which we have no control of our destinies. In Korras time, we witness at least 3 major wars back to back hinting that the Avatar's job is endless and will always precede your own wishes. But Aang's story works hard to shift the dynamic of his own personal, and albeit somewhat selfish, idea of pacifism that eventually works out in his favor. I think metastory of the merch sales, the comic spinoffs, new netflix adaptation, and other media show that on the grander marketing and wide viewing audience scale, Aang has the superior story. And i dont think that is all be accident. I honestly dont think even the producers or original creators fully inderstand what made the Last Airbender so successful. If you consider that the original creators of Avatar are no longer working with Netflix to develop the series due to "creative differences" we can surmise there are definitely a lot of conflicting actions being made by producer powered influences. I've seen a lot of arguments for and against Korra's story (not saying that your video is in defence of the story but), i have to side against her portrayal of the responsibility of the avatar and the Avatar's world. I think Korras story is another sliver of proof that it takes a quite a bit of time to reboot a series while the originals still have a great impact during their lifetime and trying to dethrone your predecessor does not mean a writer needs to vandalize the legacy of the original hero to do so. I think the Ending of Korra shows us that removing Aang was bittersweet, but the Korra's show had no other message to give us. It wasnt just necessary change, but rather a forceful dose of reality and there are roles that people can and cannot make changes to. It enforces that Legacy is more important than manifesting your own destiny. Your birth is more important than what you do with you life. And that sucks bro.

It sounds like the creators tried to do something they themselves didn’t understand. It’s probably a big reason why TLOK felt so convoluted as well as everyone’s takes on it.

I think the thing that people seem to forget, is that people aren’t perfect, including the avatar. Aang was kind and idealistic, but even in his own series, he had several moments of flawed thinking, beliefs, and actions (think Bato of the Water Tribe, and The Desert). Him being a bad father isn’t necessarily out of character either. It should be noted just how much pressure he would’ve been under, not just as the avatar, but as the last of his people. Tenzin being born an Airbender must have been such a monumental event for Aang. He finally had a chance to rebuild his people’s culture and way of life. Of course he’d want to be sure he instilled every last ounce of the air nomad’s cultures into his son who, after he passed, would also have that burden until more Airbenders could be born. In fact, you could even argue, that his duty to pass on the teachings of his people, was the most crucial duty of his entire life. Someone else could have theoretically taken out Ozai or helped rebuild the world after the war. But only Aang could properly pass on his culture alongside air bending, as the act of air bending, works very much in tandem with their beliefs and practices. Had he not, the next avatars would, by his knowledge, never be able to properly learn the way of the nomads as the temples, books, scrolls, etc are lost to time.

This is incredible and wonderful analysis of Korra! I couldn’t agree more and more people who disregard LoK’s depth need to watch this.

LoK actually ruined Aang's legacy by killing off the avatar link

I always would just imagine that Aang "favouritism" towards Tenzin wasn't because he was a bad dad I felt it was more of the desire to continue a tradition that was entirely wiped out and imagine not having seen anyone else like you for over a hundred years, wouldn't you pass down as much knowledge as you can

I'll never get behind the neglectful/absent parent trope in animation sequels. It seems contrived purely to give the new characters a reason to be angsty, so that they can then tell a story about resolving that conflict. It just comes off as lazy, STILL relying on the previous characters to give the new characters an impetus for an emotional growth journey. Is it just a thing that all sequel writers feel trapped in the shadow of the original and can't resist making the characters go through the same thing? I get that it's daunting to write characters that you know aren't going to be a well received as the last ones, but I'd rather see them shine or suck on their own.

And this video reminds me of why I love TLoK. Season 3 was the peak of it's story telling and the final scene, even just in screencaps and a verbal description by Kato is enough to make me tear up x.x

I'm glad to see some love for Korra! I personally related so much more with Korra than with Aang.

The thing that really bothered me about korra is that they made the avatar state super nerfed. I hated how she went into the avatar state and then moments later she would be getting her butt kicked

One thing a lot of people don't factor into Aang's actions as a father is how birth order always affects the way children interact with their parents. Now factor in how Aang experienced it: first kid no powers, no pressure! Bumi is Aang at his most childlike; second kid, water bending, cool that Katara's turf; third kid AIR BENDER! All the pressure to keep air nomad culture alive now has a focus. The result is Aang and Tenzin have something only they can bond over. Aang being oblivious is not a new characteristic, especially if his older kids convinced themselves their jealousy was irrational, leading to them never bringing up how they feel

Can I also say jinora getting her mastery in air bending was cool but it always seem too quick like she learned a new air bending and spiritual tuned with spirit world but did she master all air bending techniques and styles? It doesn't seem so to me, tenzin and aang being masters I can see that in their bending and movements. Just my hot take

I think Zaheer was right at least about one thing. The avatar shouldn’t exist it’s way too much power for a single person to have especially when that person is chosen at birth. I don’t really like legend of Korra because of Korra’s blatant abuse of her power in the early seasons which makes Zaheers point extremely clear. I understand she undergoes a lot of character growth throughout the series but the underlying problem of the unchecked power of the avatar is never addressed.

I always appreciated that Korra didn’t try to just be another version of Aang. And the more I watch it the better I think it is. I just recently binged both series again (I do this at least once a year, often more) and I enjoyed it more this time than in the past. Korra’s an entirely different person than Aang, living in a much different world than the one he was born to and then woke up in 100 years later. I’m nearly 40 and these shows remain the best and my most favorite.

Honestly, I don't see why the avatar has to be the protagnist of any sequel series in the verse. This would completely resolve any of the "legacy" issues that arise when giving the new protagnists great faults. If, for instance, Korra was a villain in the series and / or the protagnist of the series was another character, I feel like some of the events that fans hate (like the cycle being broken, the connection to past lives being severed, etc) would be more easily accepted by fans because the show wouldn't have to work so hard to justify Korra's actions or make the audience accept her after those mistakes. This wouldn't fix everything wrong with the series since some changes like the entire "Beginnings" debacle completely ruin the atmosphere, world building, and mechanics that ATLA established. Alternatively, better writing could have made these events feel more tragic and less like the awkward stumblings of an unworthy successor but I digress.

Great video, I always have found this scene both incredibly gorgeous and moving. In fact I think Korra should have ended in season 3, It would have been the perfect ending. Korra looks at Jinora but sees Aang and realizes she can’t live up to his legacy. Much like how the legend of Korra couldnt live up to Avatar. That said not many shows can. When it comes to my thoughts on Korra, I think similiar to you. I respect some of the risks and different paths the creators took however they clearly didn’t all payoff. Although I don’t love Korra the animation is gorgeous and Season 1 and 3 are genuinely solid. Korra haters start putting a little respect on its name!

Season 3 was alright, but I hated season 2, and here's why. In TLA, the spirits were consistently neutral, with a blue/orange morality compared to the material world, where it was pretty clear that the Fire Nation was (at least being lead by) evil. Korra's story dismantled that too, which was honestly not necessary for every important thing you mentioned in this video. And while it was interesting to see how the first avatar came to be, I don't think that story was executed well. The panda/forest spirit from TLA wasn't a villain; it was just hopeless and angry, and full of misplaced blame. At the same time, the owl spirit from the library was not a villain either. The one thing all the spirits from TLA have in common is that they only become upset and rampage when the seemingly arbitrary thing they care about has been damaged, disrespected, or destroyed; and that thing usually being something that they represent or are closely associated with. Season 2 of Korra... oh, you can calm spirits down with a little waterbending magic? That would've been good to know in the Library. Then, Aang and Sokka could've browsed all they liked while Katarra kept the spirits calm. Did anyone who used that stupid trick in Korra's day ever take responsibility and deal with the thing that was making the spirits upset? No, not that I can recall. Certainly not in the way Aang had to deal with spirits. I think avatar Wan's story could've been made more interesting, and believable relative to the per-established world building, if in order to preserve the world, he had to absorb *both* the spirits of light an dark. The avatar becomes the ultimate symbol of perfect balance between light and dark, order and entropy, civilization and anarchy. If you think about it, something else they should've done was talk about how even the elements themselves respond more to one side or the other. I would go so far as to suggest that everyone's favorite element, the element of freedom, responds better to entropy, and that's why Jinorra was a better airbender than her father.

I didn't mind Aang getting retrospective yet very human and understandable flaws. I did mind the awful redcons, clashing changes in lore and writing that didn't make any sense.

That scene of solemn tone and bittersweet end was great. You could feel the balance of emotion in the scene with Korra mindset and the others in the room. There's good parts of LOK for sure and Zaheer stuff was cool and where it left Korra was a great change in her. To start off season 4

I think Korra had one major problem. It has 4 weak villains that came and went unsatisfyingly. Zaheer was the only half decent one but the rest felt extremely cheap. I think everything else, the characters and the world building where absolutely stellar.

Hmm, I get what they were going for, buuut.... Korra messed up waaay too much to be likable. She messed up a ton in the first season (which, ok, she was just getting started), but then she caused the main conflict of the second season. Then, she cut off her connection with Ang as a result of her initial screw up. I believe viewers can relate easily with an anti-hero like Zuko because even though his actions are evil, they get where he's coming from, and he's acting towards his goals. Yes, he failed to capture the avatar, but not due to his own incompetence. On the other hand, Korra is an incompetent avatar. There is little to no excuse for her screw-ups after season 1 (after she got some experience). Even in season 4 after she went through more crap shows than Ang probably did in his entire life, her solution to "Kuvira is invading" was "I should fight her in a 1 on 1 in front of her entire army." Like, where's the progression? How is that a smart idea indicative of her growth as a character? She started out as a hot headed dumbass, and by season 4 she's exactly the same. All that talk about what she learned and her speech to Kuvira is pointless when she's still acting like a dumbass. This wouldn't have been a problem if while being a hot headed dumbass, Korra had wise counselors who she actually listened to to guide her through stuff. But, she dismisses Tenzen, and the rest are useless. If Katara would have stuck with her throughout her journey and tamed her stupidness, then this would've been a whole different story and a much better one. As things went down, it's really, really hard to sympathize and root for an idiot who keeps screwing up again and again and again for 4 seasons straight.

I think ultimately both shows bring out the incredible struggle that is maintaining balance...

Honestly I feel like most of your praise is towards the concept and idea of LoK, while most of people's criticism towards the series is about the execution. Personally, I find nothing wrong with the ideas behind Korra. A nonbender uprising, civil war, airbender villain, totalitarian regime and the processing of trauma. All amazing stuff. The problem is not in how they challenged viewers, the problem is in the rushed execution and lack of cohesion , especially season 2. ATLA's story feels well thought out mostly from start to finish while LoK lacks this type of cohesion which hurts its overall quality severely. If that hadn't been the case it could've been great rather than good, like it's predecessor .