Sorry I’ve been gone for a couple of days everyone…but my little girl was born on Thursday and I’ve been preoccupied. But what better way to come back than with a review of a surprising episode a whole week old!?
So Legend of Korra...this past Saturday's episode was just wow. Had some good comedy: Korra's freak out when Ikki told Asami that she liked Mako and Ikki's freak-out when she was kept out of the room. Not to mention Naga throwing everyone off of her when they tried going on patrol. I just had this feeling that Naga was like, "Fools, I am not Appa; get off of me." And of course ugly Milo's adoring, almost stalker-ish, crush on Asami. And I say stalker-ish because when he first meets her he says, "You're pretty can I have some of your hair." Not to mention he follows her when she goes looking for Korra with the boys. But it also has its darker moments surrounding Bloodbending...a move that if you know the history of Avatar, only one person should know.
During the episode Korra basically tells Tarrlok that she refuses to get behind his plans after they induct the new chief of police. Tarrlok's response is to call her a "half-baked avatar in training" and bash on her lack air bending skills. On the way back to the temple Tenzin tells her that Aang and other Avatars called on their past lives for help but she tells him she is a failure at that too. That's when he tells her to think and that she made have made a connection without even realizing it. She then proceeds to tell him about her flashes of Aang in trouble and he tells her to pay attention to them.
Later after a pep talk about having friends by her side, the new Team Avatar drive away in Asami's car and take down a group of Equalists who broke some prisoners out of jail. When Tarrlok and his task force show up he once again threatens Korra but the hardheaded avatar, who is right to fight back, doesn't listen. The next day Tarrlok makes a new law that punishes all the non-benders putting a curfew on them. Tenzin is against it but the other three of the council vote that the new law is okay. On the police scanner, Team Avatar Generation Korra hears there is a rally and goes to put a stop to it, but when they get there that part of city has no power and instead of Equalists it's a group of just innocent non-benders wanting their rights back.
Before I keep going this is what I really like about this show, it's definitely real and for a more mature audience. Just think of what Americans did to the Japanese-Americans during WWII. This is exactly what happens in "When Extremes Meet."
A woman pleads to Korra when she shows up saying, "Please, you're our Avatar too." It was a notification to Korra that there are non-benders out there holding onto her.
When she confronts Tarrlok who has these people barricaded he ignores her and tells the Metalbenders to round them up. Korra fights back and so Tarrlok plays dirty and arrest everyone of Team Avatar but of course the Avatar herself.
Tenzin shows up at the station and pleads for Asami, Mako, Bolin, and all the non-benders who were arrested at the so called “rally” to be released. When the new chief refuses to release them and tells Tenzin to take it up with the council he says he will in the morning. Korra feels that would be taking too long and in the dead of nights goes and confronts Tarrlok in his office. After non playful banter in which Korra says that Tarrlok is doing exactly what Amon says is wrong with Benders and that's he is just as bad as him a fight ensues, in which Tarrlok is seriously out for blood...if you’ve seen the episode you get that pun.
Korra eventually has him beat knocking him out of the office and away from his water and she's about to finish the fight with some fire when everything just stops as Tarrlok stands up. And like my sister said, “Any true Avatar fan knew exactly what was happening the moment it started.” They didn't need to wait the last twenty seconds before Korra asked the question that confirmed it for those who didn't know.
"You're a Bloodbender?"
"…There are a lot of things about me you don't know."
Guess what, Aang sure the heck does. After Tarrlok throws her across the room she blacks out and another flash from Aang's life gets played. In this clip Aang shows her too little too late that Tarrlok is evil as he's shown in handcuffs on trial for something and then he Bloodbends the entire courtroom including lovable sexy looking Sokka, tough and now and always was beautiful Toph, and the tougher looking with a goatee Aang—problem is in one of the earlier flashes when they show Aang he is coming out of the Avatar State and that is presumably after the Bloodbending in the courtroom so either the Avatar State can break Bloodbending or Katara shows up and puts a stop to Tarrlok because she is the only one they haven’t shown as a young adult.
When Korra wakes up she's bound and in a small truck like car. When she asks Tarrlok what he is doing he threatens to send her somewhere where no one can find her and keep her out of his way. She breathes fire out of her mouth before he shuts the door and the episode ends.
So the question is how the heck does Tarrlok know Bloodbending!?
If you know your Avatar history, you know in the episode "The Puppetmaster" from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the team meets Hama, the last Waterbender to be alive after the original raids on the southern water tribe. Upon meeting Katara she sets out to teach her the move that helped her break out of prison: Bloodbending. This leads to Katara realizing Hama has been the person kidnapping people in the town they're at. When the two of them fight Katara forces herself to learn the move to keep Sokka from killing Aang. Hama is taken away but not before congratulating Katara on being a Bloodbender, which makes her cry. Katara then only uses it one other time in the episode ”The Southern Raiders" where she and Zuko hunt down the man that killed her mother—still one of my favorite episodes; she really shows how powerful of a bender she really is.
Hama was already extremely old and she had waited years to teach someone that technique and it's assumed that she only passed it onto Katara. Katara, the good soul she is, wouldn't have taught that move to anyone, not even Korra. She never wanted that move and she felt that it was wrong to have that much control over someone. So how did Tarrlok learn it and how was he able to do it when the moon wasn't full? Because Hama and Katara could only do it during a full moon (Don’t quote me on that because I’m not sure if it’s a full moon in “The Southern Raiders” I need to get on Netflix and look). And not only did they show Tarrlok doing it not during full moon but they also showed him doing it in the middle of the day to a full courtroom of people. So how did he also become so powerful?
Here's my theory. Tarrlok wants a war just as badly as Amon; much like Senator Kelly and Magneto in The X-Men...but here is the other catch. Both Amon and Tarrlok know each other personally and both of them found Wan Shi Tong's Library. Think about it, both Amon and Tarrlok are privileged to information only the last Avatar and the only bender to train two Avatars would know. Shi Tong's Library would have that information. So how? Don't know; you know as well as I do the library is back underground. But that's the only way because I highly doubt the spirits came to Amon to teach him Energybending, and there is no way in any universe that Tarrlok should know about Bloodbending. But the writers of this show are fantastic and so they already have it all figured out. But with Korra in seclusion the only thing she can do now is rely on her previous life: Avatar Aang. And this Saturday’s episode is titled, "Out of The Past" so we'll see if that means what I think it does.
Another theory I have is that because of the fact Aang actually died in "The Crossroads of Destiny," in Book 2 and the Avatar was only brought back thanks to the spirit oasis water and Ozai being dumb, Korra's spiritual connection is messed up. As it is, her being there is nothing short of a miracle and the "spirits" saying the world needs the Avatar, contradicting Amon. Aang is reaching out, but because of what happened it’s hard for her to reach inward. That and we forget Aang was a monk, so being spiritual came easy to him, for Korra not only was she not a monk but she's almost too much of a free spirit to bind her spirit to the past. Oh, and because she's known her whole life she's the Avatar, she's never had to struggle until now. Everything came easy for her and a challenge like this isn't part of her nature she doesn't know how to deal with it. But she'll get through it; the Avatar universe needs her too.
And the last theory is the one about Amon possibly being the Avatar that was supposed to come but somehow when Aang could go back into the Avatar State Korra was chosen. Just think:
Buffy dies for a little bit = Kendra.
Kendra dies but Buffy did live = Psycho Faith and Buffy.
Does it make sense now?
Anyways, until next time, According to Michael III, this is getting really good and The Legend of Korra just keeps on surprising us.
—Michael III
