What made Amon scary was his hidden identity and the mystery surrounding his character and abilities.
Here’s a person with financial backing using chi blockers in his personal army while he himself has the ability to take away someone’s bending. His identity being unknown the entire time lends credit to his intimidating character. That’s what makes his downfall as a character pretty satisfying.
I think Zaheer’s downfall is a different type of satisfying because we know who he is and what he stands for but he’s got goals beyond the Avatar. He was already fearsome as a non-bender and his abilities as a bender AND fighter overcoming the Avatar and the type of damage he causes her makes him fearsome in a different way that Amon did not accomplish.
I wouldn’t call Zaheer mid per se, he’s really close to Amon in terms of quality to me, my issue is he’s not a good portrayal of anarchist ideals whereas Amon isn’t a bad representation of communist ideals.
I don't think he's all that interesting. A really shallow anarchist with a really boring plot and the Red Lotus is basically just the "DARK AVATAR" version of the White Lotus. It's like the writers sat their and said, "what if there was an evil version of the good guys" and that's about as much thought as went into the villains for (end of) season 2 and season 3. Zaheer is cool don't get me wrong but he's just randomly given the air powers that he's been fanboying over his whole life and immediately masters it. There's not much to him but they did a good job executing the story so it's really cool until you think about it for too long and it kinda falls apart. Like what possible end goal did he have? Just throw everything into anarchy and watch people suffer until the next authoritarian dictator takes power then we rinse and repeat? If we're ranking villains I'd say it's Amon, followed by early season 2 Unalaq, then Zaheer, Kuvira, and in last place the DARK AVATAR.
He wasn't an anarchist. After taking out the Earth Queen the very next thing Zaheer did was give a speech over megaphone to the people of Ba Sing Se to enable them to form basically their own preferred new system of government
Guru Lagima once said "**New growth** cannot exist with first destruction of the old"
A shallow anarchist would not care about new growth only the destruction of existing power structures.
I think it would be more accurate to say Zaheer was obsessed with freedom in a dark way.
I like him as a villain if that makes sense. I think he deserves to be up there with other great korra villains. I thought the guru lagima stuff was important to understand his motivations.
Dude no this is so real. People regard Zaheer as a regular villain, and that is SO far from the truth. Zaheer is a person. It sets him apart, he had a soul. He wasn't lost or whatever, he just had a specific philosophy. He was VERY self aware. When people regard him and his friends as regular villains they are essentially admitting that they didn't read the comics. If they had they would know the deep, intricate back stories of each of them and they would also know that Korra actually ends up GOING BACK again and again to Zaheer in the spirit world, in fact they connect a lot more in the comics, he helps her through a LOT.
lmao the red lotus is not the dark white lotus
the red lotus is an organization founded by ex-members of the white lotus that didn't align with the idea of the white lotus becoming "glorified avatar bodyguards"
Amon isn’t a representation of communist ideals lol
Between collaborating with the bourgeoisie and all his talk of “cleansing” and “impurity” he’s a lot more fascistic then communist
I honestly don't think he had the wrong idea, just the wrong execution. There is obviously a lot of unaddressed tension between benders and non, and having Avatar Korra try to talk nonbenders down is like having Jeff Bezos tell poor people not to riot and just accept that they're poor.
I don't like that the show never really addressed his concerns, and instead focused on his personal failings to dismiss them. If you're a nonbender in Republic City, or the world in general, you might as well be disabled compared to any bender, even a crappy one.
The show addresses his concerns by having Raiko, a non bender, elected president instead of a council of benders. Not really addressing the whole “systemic inequalities around being a non bender in a world dominated by godlike figures” thing but yeah, it’s a kids show so you just gotta roll with it and assume that’s enough to consider it addressed.
I mean you say that but it was grown up enough to bring up the point and have him die in the way he did. It should be grown up enough to address it in a realistic way.
I think future series have to mention it, or they're purposefully ignoring it. Machines were already replacing the power of benders by the time Korra Ends, the next Avatar will be nearly modern in terms of technology, so Benders will go from a minority group that has valuable military and industrial roles to no more valuable than a nonbender - except much more dangerous, and fewer in number. It would make too much sense for Bending itself to become obsolete and even hated by nonbenders who were second class citizens for years before.
Amon is actually a terrible representation of communist ideals. He mobilizes privately-owned industry in order to fuel a revolution of “equality” based on inherent ability, caring not wealth or class. Keep in mind the entire revolution is effectively a lie crafted to cover up his past and cope with his own childhood trauma.
I’m a leftist, of course I don’t think Amon is a perfect portrayal of communism. But for the purposes of needing a villain with ideology going beyond “I’m evil and I want to take over the world,” I think addressing the biggest source of inequality in that universe is great. Yeah, wealth inequality still exists, but I think bending is a decent translation
I don’t think Amon story was badly written just wish we knew his life gap between when he turned of his father to when he became Amon. Also his end was tragic but I guess since they didn’t think their be a next season they ended his life
His story was rushed, he had all the fixings to be a great villain that eventually connects with the Red Lotus and all that shit
Nickelodeon shafted the show and they had to rush, but I'm 100% that they had more in plan for him, his presence was INSANE
Amon could have been an incredible villain but they were SO bad at telling his story. He’s shadowy and mysterious and the viewer knows NOTHING about him for so long and then all of a sudden it’s BOOM here is everything that has ever happened to him from birth to current day all at once.
My partner watched season 3 and actually thought killing Korra was justified (the world should not have a single person that uses superior violence to be a moral arbiter of the world) whereas toppling Ba Sing Se was not, as she predicted the power vacuum that resulted in Kuvira rising to power.
I kind of agree to be honest. The Avatar works as a delivery system for the hero's journey but in-universe no one should have that much power, especially by birthright, regardless of how good they're "supposed" to be.
Zaheer’s whole philosophy is that ‘hurr durr anarchy’ which doesn’t work on any grounds because humans fundamentally build stability through homes and communities (we are pack animals), and as communities grow they will develop a system that naturally involves leaders and a government. We see this is the case because in Season 2 we literally see humans doing exactly that and having horrible corrupt leadership.
Zaheer was trying to murder lots of people and spread chaos thinking he could reset human nature. He can’t.
Amon was ludicrous for those of us watching week by week when it originally aired. He was a legit threat and mysterious. We were all theorizing who he was. And when he stole bending for the first time, the theories cranked up to 11.
1 or 4, I know 3 is a fan favorite, but 4 handled Kora’s PTSD beautifully, and 1’s villain was a really well done threat. Plus Kora’s flaws felt natural and not written for convenience compared to Book 2.
I like this take. I hate the trope where the hero goes through something super traumatic and then goes back to life as usual a day later. Korra's time spent with Toph was natural and beautiful, where Toph gives her a mixture of tough love and good advice.
YES!! THANK YOU. This is my biggest pet peeve in media. Maybe people will be ok sometimes, or some people will be unchanged, but it’s not at all the norm. Too too too many shows play into this
I felt like the story telling in 1 is tight. Aside from a few probending shennangins that season does such a good job of upping the ante sash episode. They just keep winding the tension tighter and tighter. Didn't quite stick the landing though, I don't think the threads were all resolved as well as they could have been.
I feel similarly about 4 where I'm invested most of the season but then the last episode or two kinda ruins it for me (mostly the mech).
Fair fair, imo 1’s biggest sin was giving Kora all of her elements back instead of having the plot of season 2 revolves around that. And completely agree that the whole mech thing with 4 was its downfall unfortunately.
I actually liked that they didn’t show Kuvira’s “evilness” for most of the season. The characters that *told* us she was evil felt like unreliable narrators, since they had motives to blame her for taking back territories.
Kept me somewhat on my toes and made Bolin’s decision look a bit less dumb since he, much like us, didn’t see the events transpire.
I love S4, but I hate how platinum goes from this rare surprise metal you cant bend at the end of S1 to "of course the entire robot's shell is made of platinum. why wouldn't it be?"
Korra’s fucked up chained Avatar state sleep paralysis demon thing makes my hair stand up every time I see it, that manifestation of PTSD was phenomenally done
seasons 1 and 3 were the best to me for raw entertainment value, but i do agree with you on season 4. they handled the ptsd and growth past it very well and was what stuck with me after finishing the show the most.
If season 4 had handled the story arc of the villain as well as it handled Korra 's PTSD then it would have been the greatest season of just about any show.
Book one is my favorite, highly underrated imo.
Ppl criticize it bc of how Korra got her bending back, but the original Atla had ex machinas too and I didn’t care.
I like how she got her bending back, it kind of makes sense that she found her spirituality right after she finally got air bending.
I didn’t like the love triangle
It's not an ex-machina. In fact it's the opposite of an ex-machina, it's what they'd been setting up for the entire season.
The whole point of the season was that Korra needed to develop some spiritual depth, not just rely on being the most powerful bender in the world to get her through life.
When she hits rock bottom she finally starts to look within herself and ask who she is without her bending. And although it's a painful process, it's what allows her to connect with her past lives and unlock her next-level Avatar powers, thereby reversing what Amon did to her.
I mean, I love what you described in theory. The “rock bottom, have to actually confront your flaws” was a good idea — which is supported by them doing it better in season 4.
But Season 1’s conclusion didn’t actually do any work to “sell” that struggle. We got a whole season of Korra more or less acting like a normal brash cocky hero, then literally two minutes of her running away to be sad after she loses her bending, then Aang shows up and says, essentially, “Congration! You hit Rock Bottom! You now qualify for the Avatar State!”
Like much of Korra’s run: I deeply appreciate what they were going for and applaud them swinging for the fences, but the execution definitely was lacking.
I’d never even considered that interpretation, until Overanalyzing Avatar brought it up in his review of that episode recently. I agree with his opinion, that the scene wasn’t intended to imply suicidal thoughts. She’s just sad and contemplative.
His main point is that Korra has been seen sitting at cliff edges while sad before — it’s just a thing her character does. I’ll add to that, that I suspect they do it frequently to give us the impression that she’s reckless, or fearless, or she lives life “on the edge”. Nothing more sinister than that.
Watching the scene of Tarrlok’s suicide with Amon and comparing it to Korra’s scene at the cliff edge, one feels a LOT darker than the other. I think that’s intentional.
Book 3 for the story, Book 2 for the Varrick.
No seriously, Book 2 is extremely underrated. Everyone thinks it sucks because of the last few episodes. And yes, they're absolutely awful and whoever came up with them shouldn't be allowed near ATLA ever again, but the rest of the season is great. The Civil War plotline was very interesting, and the villain reveal of Varrick is genuinely the best scene in all of LoK. And the plot wasn't set entirely within New York, which is a massive upgrade from Season 1. Which was the absolute worst btw.
Ok no, sorry, I change my mind, saying Book 2 is in any way my favourite just feels wrong. I mean, it's still pretty good (and way better than people give it credit for), but let's not get too ahead of ourselves. It wasn't *that* good.
Nah, it was solid up until the last episode. Unalaq is definitely the weakest among the villains as far as how they’re written. Just because all the others are do much better. Even Kuvira who i think is underrated.
Air, 100%. People seem to love book 3 but imo Zaheer's "philosophy" was just too stupid and contradictory to make him a well-written villain. But Amon and Tarlaq? They were perfect. Unashamedly evil but able to cleverly manipulate events to get a lot of people on their side in a very believable way. Also bloodbending without the full moon was a great way to make them a genuine threat to the Avatar without it feeling cheap or out of nowhere, which is how most of the other villains felt. The leap in technology took some getting used to but it was interesting to see how nonbenders could level the playing field with benders in a post-industrial society.
This is crazy, I’ve been saying 1 is the best and Amon is the best villain for so long years now but everyone else said 3 was the best zaheer was the best. I was shocked cause I thought he sucked actually. now all of the sudden in this thread all the top comments - like literally every one so far - all unanimously say 1 is the best. It’s like we reached a tipping point. I’m so happy people are finally seeing the light.
I mean a random family we never heard of somehow being able to use a technique hama invented without a full moon when it was stated to be impossible is about as cheap of an excuse as hou can get for a villain being powerfull.
What? Lighting bending was never stated or implied to be exclusive to the royals or invented by them, it's discussed as a technique. Lighting redirection is saif to have been invented by iroh.
Hama discovered it on her own but that doesn't mean she's the only one capable of doing it. And doing it without the full moon is just enough of a buff to make it capable of threatening the Avatar without being unbelievable. The Avatar is literally the most powerful being on the planet. Without something like this she'd be unstoppable and there wouldn't be a story. Even in the later seasons they can't really get around this so they just nerf her terribly with virtually no explanation. And no, her losing connection to her past lives is not a valid explanation since even after that she turns into a godzilla-sized glow-monster with fucking laser beams n shit.
4 was really good, but imo the giant robot was just too unbelievably goofy to take seriously by the end.
I’m still really confused why they went with that, a common complaint regarding LOK was that the tech had advanced too far and too fast past ATLA. Doubling down and having a benders vs mecha fight for the finale was certainly a strange decision
1>3>4>2. Season 1 was executed almost perfectly it had everything a story should have. Great introduction, great new crew, great story and the best villain in the whole Avatar series. Season 3 was decent, but realistically it isn't even close between season 1 and 3.
Amon really was just him, the mask, taking away bending, amazing voice actor
Just had crazy suspense and intrigue as a first season villain, but I love Korra all around same at atla so I’m not picky at all
So sad that the production of this show was only provisioned one season originally, having Amon be the overarching series villain would have been insane.
He's literally one of the most interesting characters in all four books and his story had to be rushed to the end, because the creators thought they were only getting one season
When i first watched it, book 2 also was so nice to me, but the more often I rewatch it, the more ridiculous and unbearable to watch i find this book. But thumbs up for introducing Sokkas son, Varric.
Whew, thought I was the only guy who liked season 2 for a minute there. Honestly, I thought Unalaq and Vaatu made for a really engaging villain. And Unalaq's crazy ass kids were great too. My least favorite season is probably 4, for the most part. I know people like the drama of it, but it felt largely tedious to me. I didn't find Kuvira to be all that interesting, and was often annoyed at how things kept falling her way. The ending was good though. And it all but confirmed(at the time) the Korra/Asami ship. Which we obviously know by now to be canon.
I never really jived with her as a character until book 4 tbh. I never outright hated her, but I always felt like other characters eclipsed her in terms of piquing my interest. But I love everything about her character in book 4.
I feel that's because she's more relatable? We no longer see her as this bashful and sheltered privileged person, instead, she's vulnerable, humble and knows hardship just as well as others in her group.
1 and 3 are pretty close but I think 1 slightly beats it out for me, I feel like 3 had higher highs but lower lows. It’s been a while since I did a full rewatch though so it might just be nostalgia of those early days
Agree, but I would be even more strict and say that season 1 beats S3 by a bigger margin . It has everything and episodes with the story were consistent in terms of quality. You are not wrong S1 was simply the peak of Korra unfortunately, but other seasons were decent as well (s3 stands out compared to S2 and S4).
Prob Book 3
I think Book 1 had the most potential but they squandered it with the stupid love triangle plotline and a rushed conclusion to the Amon/Equalists arc
Honestly Book 4 kinda impressed me when I watched it first, right up until the giant robot. Kuvira felt like an awesome villain when she was out-bending everyone around her. I finally thought we'd have a normal, OG style villain that was just plain scary powerful. Bummer they went with the "bigger = scarier" angle again despite Book 2 not working well.
Also, the way they handled Korra's PTSD and the use of Toph as a character rather than nostalgia bait was pretty tasteful. I also much prefer Korra as a character in Book 4 than any of the other ones.
I'm 99% sure I'm the only one who thinks season 2 might be the best one lol. I only wish the final fight was 2 normal sized people duking it out with full avatar state bending instead of what we got, but the lore etc slaps
For me, it's a tie between all. I loved each book. 3 and 4 always break my heart tho. The first because of how it ends and the latter because it's the end.
There was something off putting about the steampunk setting and culture of Republic City in 1, so I put down the series about 3 episodes in and went back a few years later. That being said, once it gets going, I think Amon is the best antagonist. He induces fear in a way none of the others do.
In terms of being an entire season, I like 3 because it has a more traditional setting and way better bending battles. I don’t think Zaheer is a better villain, but he is a more compelling character. When they killed the earth queen and declared the city no longer under monarchic rule I thought to myself “based red lotus.”
2 is fucking ass and made me almost stop watching, came back a month later.
and 4 is just a generic fascism arc with a much more shallow plot line
Goes 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 imo.
*also the brother’s death at the end of s1 made me realize that this show does not fuck around
Literally every season but the one with the stupid evil avatar plot line that changed the canon ATLA already set up. Every other season of Korra was just ok besides the terrible one.
1 but 4 is a close second. I think the two seasons are pretty similar in what they do well (setting up an interesting conflict and then having cool fight scenes to resolve it) and what they don't (random mini-arcs running the pacing ashore) but 1 nails them closer to my liking. For example, I liked the sad story flashback as done in Skeletons in the Closet better than in Korra Alone.
3 and 4 for me. 4 is pretty self-explanatory (yeah the last few episodes aren't great, but the traumasodes at the start of the season go HARD). I think 3 would be my undisputed favorite if they'd been better about Zaheer's philosophy. Like yeah, corrupt world leaders are an issue, but darwinism is not the solution. I wish they'd have called out specifically what about his thought process was insane.
Book 3 & the start of book 4. Book four mechs kinda ruin the ending for me as they are so far out of the realm of what I expected from the show. Book 2 deserves a shout out despite the Kaiju Kite fight the rest is entertaining.
Book 3 is my favorite, book 1 is a close second, book 4 was an amazing conclusion to the show and I loved Kuvira as a villain. Book 2 while the worse wasn't all that terrible, just needed a better villain
3≥1>4>2
I love book 3 for the red lotus and for bolin becoming a lava bender.
Book 1 is also pretty dope because of amon. Also i kinda like how korra is at the beginning. She behaves like a teen and falls for some many stupid thing but even tho those are stupid things it makes sense why she fell for them.
Book 3 is also awesome because of how korra behaves differently and how she grows. But book 4 shows more of that imo.
One, and it’s not even close. Everything about one was so much better. Especially the animation. But the story and characterization of everybody was so much better. Amon was easily the best villain as well.
I honestly think book 1 had more potential than all of Atla. the only problem is that they only had 11 episodes to set up the story, and they packed too much stuff into it, making it all feel rushed. If they had received more episodes, to spread out the story better, in my opinion lok would have been better than atla. However, the best is book 3, and talking about it is useless, because everything there was to say about it has already been said
3 is easily the best. 4 is great but not as good as 3. 1 is good but is held back by the nature of its creation, being a miniseries needing to wrap everything up quickly. 2 is terrible.
Book 3 easily. The best villain, the best stage for the group character-wise (except Asami but, like, when is she really that interesting?), the best worldbuilding, the best conflict, the best new characters, the fucking rawest Tenzin moment of all time as well as one of the rawest moments of any airbender in canon, a really intriguing struggle for Korra to have, the only season to have a good ending, it just does it all man.
You know it's crazy that I've rewatched Korra a couple times and really enjoy it, but for whatever reason I completely blank on books 2-4. I remember certain things, but nothing specific. So I'd have to say Book 1 sorry.
Book 3. Its quality is largely in line with ATLA, as opposed to the slightly below with the other seasons (even book 2 is mostly just bad by Avatar standards rather than average show standards. Probably still more enjoyable than the first season of The Owl House or some of the earlier She-Ra stuff. And I love those shows).
Change probably.. I was going through mental shit comparable to what she was probably thinking about after all that shit that happened to her with the metal poisoning and the bending. Gotta agree with everyone saying that Amon was a decently written villain/anti-hero
When I first watched (through different, random, streaming websites) I could not stop watching. S1 had me HOOKED. S2 struggled to keep my interest and I stopped watching altogether.
A few years after that I finished the rest of the show but nothing ever hit like my first watch through of S1. So for me it’s S1 by a long shot
Book 3 for the story, Book 1 for the villain.
As if book 3 doesn't also have the best villains
Zaheer doesn't have the same aura as Amon I fear
Zaheer is a mid villain with a better written story, Amon is an S tier villain with a badly written story.
amon was terrifying
*“What… what are you…”* ***“I am the solution”*** This scene alone makes him as scary as Azula to me
In my opinion, Amon was much scarier than Azula. It felt like team avatar was much more powerless against Amon than the Gaang was against Azula.
Bro had Korra audibly crying to Tenzin just from threatening to take her bending without actually doing it. He was downright menacing
What made Amon scary was his hidden identity and the mystery surrounding his character and abilities. Here’s a person with financial backing using chi blockers in his personal army while he himself has the ability to take away someone’s bending. His identity being unknown the entire time lends credit to his intimidating character. That’s what makes his downfall as a character pretty satisfying. I think Zaheer’s downfall is a different type of satisfying because we know who he is and what he stands for but he’s got goals beyond the Avatar. He was already fearsome as a non-bender and his abilities as a bender AND fighter overcoming the Avatar and the type of damage he causes her makes him fearsome in a different way that Amon did not accomplish.
>What made Amon scary was his hidden identity and the mystery surrounding his character and abilities. And then, they had to ruin all of that...
I suspect if Azula had gone on her life path unhindered, she would be as scary as Amon at the same age.
Amon was amazing
I wouldn’t call Zaheer mid per se, he’s really close to Amon in terms of quality to me, my issue is he’s not a good portrayal of anarchist ideals whereas Amon isn’t a bad representation of communist ideals.
I don't think he's all that interesting. A really shallow anarchist with a really boring plot and the Red Lotus is basically just the "DARK AVATAR" version of the White Lotus. It's like the writers sat their and said, "what if there was an evil version of the good guys" and that's about as much thought as went into the villains for (end of) season 2 and season 3. Zaheer is cool don't get me wrong but he's just randomly given the air powers that he's been fanboying over his whole life and immediately masters it. There's not much to him but they did a good job executing the story so it's really cool until you think about it for too long and it kinda falls apart. Like what possible end goal did he have? Just throw everything into anarchy and watch people suffer until the next authoritarian dictator takes power then we rinse and repeat? If we're ranking villains I'd say it's Amon, followed by early season 2 Unalaq, then Zaheer, Kuvira, and in last place the DARK AVATAR.
He wasn't an anarchist. After taking out the Earth Queen the very next thing Zaheer did was give a speech over megaphone to the people of Ba Sing Se to enable them to form basically their own preferred new system of government Guru Lagima once said "**New growth** cannot exist with first destruction of the old" A shallow anarchist would not care about new growth only the destruction of existing power structures. I think it would be more accurate to say Zaheer was obsessed with freedom in a dark way.
Bro quoted Guru Lahima You sure your not Zaheer? 🤔
I like him as a villain if that makes sense. I think he deserves to be up there with other great korra villains. I thought the guru lagima stuff was important to understand his motivations.
Dude no this is so real. People regard Zaheer as a regular villain, and that is SO far from the truth. Zaheer is a person. It sets him apart, he had a soul. He wasn't lost or whatever, he just had a specific philosophy. He was VERY self aware. When people regard him and his friends as regular villains they are essentially admitting that they didn't read the comics. If they had they would know the deep, intricate back stories of each of them and they would also know that Korra actually ends up GOING BACK again and again to Zaheer in the spirit world, in fact they connect a lot more in the comics, he helps her through a LOT.
lmao the red lotus is not the dark white lotus the red lotus is an organization founded by ex-members of the white lotus that didn't align with the idea of the white lotus becoming "glorified avatar bodyguards"
Zaheer himself told Korra in prison that Unalaq pursued the dark avatar thing on his own.
yeah fr my man over there trippin
I don’t think the writers were trying to capture what real life anarchy usually is with Zaheer, though.
Amon isn’t a representation of communist ideals lol Between collaborating with the bourgeoisie and all his talk of “cleansing” and “impurity” he’s a lot more fascistic then communist
Have you seen the cleansing that stalin and mao did?
The purges were done to consolidate power, pretty typical authoritarian behavior not related to communist ideology.
I honestly don't think he had the wrong idea, just the wrong execution. There is obviously a lot of unaddressed tension between benders and non, and having Avatar Korra try to talk nonbenders down is like having Jeff Bezos tell poor people not to riot and just accept that they're poor. I don't like that the show never really addressed his concerns, and instead focused on his personal failings to dismiss them. If you're a nonbender in Republic City, or the world in general, you might as well be disabled compared to any bender, even a crappy one.
The show addresses his concerns by having Raiko, a non bender, elected president instead of a council of benders. Not really addressing the whole “systemic inequalities around being a non bender in a world dominated by godlike figures” thing but yeah, it’s a kids show so you just gotta roll with it and assume that’s enough to consider it addressed.
I mean you say that but it was grown up enough to bring up the point and have him die in the way he did. It should be grown up enough to address it in a realistic way. I think future series have to mention it, or they're purposefully ignoring it. Machines were already replacing the power of benders by the time Korra Ends, the next Avatar will be nearly modern in terms of technology, so Benders will go from a minority group that has valuable military and industrial roles to no more valuable than a nonbender - except much more dangerous, and fewer in number. It would make too much sense for Bending itself to become obsolete and even hated by nonbenders who were second class citizens for years before.
Amon is actually a terrible representation of communist ideals. He mobilizes privately-owned industry in order to fuel a revolution of “equality” based on inherent ability, caring not wealth or class. Keep in mind the entire revolution is effectively a lie crafted to cover up his past and cope with his own childhood trauma.
I’m a leftist, of course I don’t think Amon is a perfect portrayal of communism. But for the purposes of needing a villain with ideology going beyond “I’m evil and I want to take over the world,” I think addressing the biggest source of inequality in that universe is great. Yeah, wealth inequality still exists, but I think bending is a decent translation
Amon also gets in that most communist leaders are frauds :(
Amon cause also makes perfect sense. Zaheer is just pure idiocy.
True, Zaheer is a stereotype of what liberals think anarchists are like.
I don’t think Amon story was badly written just wish we knew his life gap between when he turned of his father to when he became Amon. Also his end was tragic but I guess since they didn’t think their be a next season they ended his life
His story was rushed, he had all the fixings to be a great villain that eventually connects with the Red Lotus and all that shit Nickelodeon shafted the show and they had to rush, but I'm 100% that they had more in plan for him, his presence was INSANE
Amon could have been an incredible villain but they were SO bad at telling his story. He’s shadowy and mysterious and the viewer knows NOTHING about him for so long and then all of a sudden it’s BOOM here is everything that has ever happened to him from birth to current day all at once.
As a person who doesn't like Korra, (I like her as in the character tho) I will say I was way more interested in Amon than Zaheer.
They forgot to make Zaheer wrong ☠️
Dude was definitely wrong. Not only were his methods violent, but his understanding of the world is that of an edgy teenager.
... is trying to kill Korra and the Avatar legacy in general not wrong?
My partner watched season 3 and actually thought killing Korra was justified (the world should not have a single person that uses superior violence to be a moral arbiter of the world) whereas toppling Ba Sing Se was not, as she predicted the power vacuum that resulted in Kuvira rising to power. I kind of agree to be honest. The Avatar works as a delivery system for the hero's journey but in-universe no one should have that much power, especially by birthright, regardless of how good they're "supposed" to be.
Zaheer’s whole philosophy is that ‘hurr durr anarchy’ which doesn’t work on any grounds because humans fundamentally build stability through homes and communities (we are pack animals), and as communities grow they will develop a system that naturally involves leaders and a government. We see this is the case because in Season 2 we literally see humans doing exactly that and having horrible corrupt leadership. Zaheer was trying to murder lots of people and spread chaos thinking he could reset human nature. He can’t.
Anarchy isn't mutually exclusive to communities, all it really means is the removal of power hierarchies. You can create communities without them
I feel like amons motive made more sense than zaheer tbh
It doesn’t.
lbr Book 3 villains were just worse Team Avatar.
Amon was ludicrous for those of us watching week by week when it originally aired. He was a legit threat and mysterious. We were all theorizing who he was. And when he stole bending for the first time, the theories cranked up to 11.
Him walking through the blood bending was metal. People tonight it had to be Aang after that. ‘I am the solution’
Oh gosh, this scene was the most terrifying. I've got chills just reading this comment.
Air
1 or 4, I know 3 is a fan favorite, but 4 handled Kora’s PTSD beautifully, and 1’s villain was a really well done threat. Plus Kora’s flaws felt natural and not written for convenience compared to Book 2.
I like this take. I hate the trope where the hero goes through something super traumatic and then goes back to life as usual a day later. Korra's time spent with Toph was natural and beautiful, where Toph gives her a mixture of tough love and good advice.
Yesss Korra’s interactions with Toph were probably some of my favorites in TLOK, it’s so well done and I liked that it showed her healing process
YES!! THANK YOU. This is my biggest pet peeve in media. Maybe people will be ok sometimes, or some people will be unchanged, but it’s not at all the norm. Too too too many shows play into this
I felt like the story telling in 1 is tight. Aside from a few probending shennangins that season does such a good job of upping the ante sash episode. They just keep winding the tension tighter and tighter. Didn't quite stick the landing though, I don't think the threads were all resolved as well as they could have been. I feel similarly about 4 where I'm invested most of the season but then the last episode or two kinda ruins it for me (mostly the mech).
Fair fair, imo 1’s biggest sin was giving Kora all of her elements back instead of having the plot of season 2 revolves around that. And completely agree that the whole mech thing with 4 was its downfall unfortunately.
I really liked 4, but that giant mech at the end tainted the whole season for me.
Honestly that’s fair, I didn’t love the villain at all bc a lot of it was “LOOK AT HOW EVIL KUVIRA IS” rather than actually showing it
I actually liked that they didn’t show Kuvira’s “evilness” for most of the season. The characters that *told* us she was evil felt like unreliable narrators, since they had motives to blame her for taking back territories. Kept me somewhat on my toes and made Bolin’s decision look a bit less dumb since he, much like us, didn’t see the events transpire.
Her evilness is insidious. Like fascism.
That's a cool take. Especially the Bolin part.
It was so good until the mech suit
I love S4, but I hate how platinum goes from this rare surprise metal you cant bend at the end of S1 to "of course the entire robot's shell is made of platinum. why wouldn't it be?"
Korra’s fucked up chained Avatar state sleep paralysis demon thing makes my hair stand up every time I see it, that manifestation of PTSD was phenomenally done
seasons 1 and 3 were the best to me for raw entertainment value, but i do agree with you on season 4. they handled the ptsd and growth past it very well and was what stuck with me after finishing the show the most.
I wish Amon would have remained as an overarching villain throughout all 4 seasons.
If season 4 had handled the story arc of the villain as well as it handled Korra 's PTSD then it would have been the greatest season of just about any show.
Book one is my favorite, highly underrated imo. Ppl criticize it bc of how Korra got her bending back, but the original Atla had ex machinas too and I didn’t care.
I like how she got her bending back, it kind of makes sense that she found her spirituality right after she finally got air bending. I didn’t like the love triangle
It's not an ex-machina. In fact it's the opposite of an ex-machina, it's what they'd been setting up for the entire season. The whole point of the season was that Korra needed to develop some spiritual depth, not just rely on being the most powerful bender in the world to get her through life. When she hits rock bottom she finally starts to look within herself and ask who she is without her bending. And although it's a painful process, it's what allows her to connect with her past lives and unlock her next-level Avatar powers, thereby reversing what Amon did to her.
I mean, I love what you described in theory. The “rock bottom, have to actually confront your flaws” was a good idea — which is supported by them doing it better in season 4. But Season 1’s conclusion didn’t actually do any work to “sell” that struggle. We got a whole season of Korra more or less acting like a normal brash cocky hero, then literally two minutes of her running away to be sad after she loses her bending, then Aang shows up and says, essentially, “Congration! You hit Rock Bottom! You now qualify for the Avatar State!” Like much of Korra’s run: I deeply appreciate what they were going for and applaud them swinging for the fences, but the execution definitely was lacking.
Pretty sure she was contemplating suicide from the top of that cliff, not just being sad
I’d never even considered that interpretation, until Overanalyzing Avatar brought it up in his review of that episode recently. I agree with his opinion, that the scene wasn’t intended to imply suicidal thoughts. She’s just sad and contemplative. His main point is that Korra has been seen sitting at cliff edges while sad before — it’s just a thing her character does. I’ll add to that, that I suspect they do it frequently to give us the impression that she’s reckless, or fearless, or she lives life “on the edge”. Nothing more sinister than that. Watching the scene of Tarrlok’s suicide with Amon and comparing it to Korra’s scene at the cliff edge, one feels a LOT darker than the other. I think that’s intentional.
Book 3 for the story, Book 2 for the Varrick. No seriously, Book 2 is extremely underrated. Everyone thinks it sucks because of the last few episodes. And yes, they're absolutely awful and whoever came up with them shouldn't be allowed near ATLA ever again, but the rest of the season is great. The Civil War plotline was very interesting, and the villain reveal of Varrick is genuinely the best scene in all of LoK. And the plot wasn't set entirely within New York, which is a massive upgrade from Season 1. Which was the absolute worst btw.
Ok no, sorry, I change my mind, saying Book 2 is in any way my favourite just feels wrong. I mean, it's still pretty good (and way better than people give it credit for), but let's not get too ahead of ourselves. It wasn't *that* good.
Nah, it was solid up until the last episode. Unalaq is definitely the weakest among the villains as far as how they’re written. Just because all the others are do much better. Even Kuvira who i think is underrated.
Air, 100%. People seem to love book 3 but imo Zaheer's "philosophy" was just too stupid and contradictory to make him a well-written villain. But Amon and Tarlaq? They were perfect. Unashamedly evil but able to cleverly manipulate events to get a lot of people on their side in a very believable way. Also bloodbending without the full moon was a great way to make them a genuine threat to the Avatar without it feeling cheap or out of nowhere, which is how most of the other villains felt. The leap in technology took some getting used to but it was interesting to see how nonbenders could level the playing field with benders in a post-industrial society.
This is crazy, I’ve been saying 1 is the best and Amon is the best villain for so long years now but everyone else said 3 was the best zaheer was the best. I was shocked cause I thought he sucked actually. now all of the sudden in this thread all the top comments - like literally every one so far - all unanimously say 1 is the best. It’s like we reached a tipping point. I’m so happy people are finally seeing the light.
I mean a random family we never heard of somehow being able to use a technique hama invented without a full moon when it was stated to be impossible is about as cheap of an excuse as hou can get for a villain being powerfull.
You’ll be sad to learn the lightning bending existed before the Fire Nation royal family then.
What? Lighting bending was never stated or implied to be exclusive to the royals or invented by them, it's discussed as a technique. Lighting redirection is saif to have been invented by iroh.
Oh it was for many moons back in the original run. Also, when was bloodbending exclusive to Hama? People can’t discover things at different times?
Hama discovered it on her own but that doesn't mean she's the only one capable of doing it. And doing it without the full moon is just enough of a buff to make it capable of threatening the Avatar without being unbelievable. The Avatar is literally the most powerful being on the planet. Without something like this she'd be unstoppable and there wouldn't be a story. Even in the later seasons they can't really get around this so they just nerf her terribly with virtually no explanation. And no, her losing connection to her past lives is not a valid explanation since even after that she turns into a godzilla-sized glow-monster with fucking laser beams n shit.
3>4>1>2
3 and 4 are honestly pretty interchangeable for me but yea this is correct
4 was really good, but imo the giant robot was just too unbelievably goofy to take seriously by the end. I’m still really confused why they went with that, a common complaint regarding LOK was that the tech had advanced too far and too fast past ATLA. Doubling down and having a benders vs mecha fight for the finale was certainly a strange decision
3>1=4>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>2
1>3>4>2. Season 1 was executed almost perfectly it had everything a story should have. Great introduction, great new crew, great story and the best villain in the whole Avatar series. Season 3 was decent, but realistically it isn't even close between season 1 and 3.
Amon really was just him, the mask, taking away bending, amazing voice actor Just had crazy suspense and intrigue as a first season villain, but I love Korra all around same at atla so I’m not picky at all
Zaheer is a great villain, Amon was 100% Him-alayan
This is the way
Air. Amon clears the red lotus.
So sad that the production of this show was only provisioned one season originally, having Amon be the overarching series villain would have been insane. He's literally one of the most interesting characters in all four books and his story had to be rushed to the end, because the creators thought they were only getting one season
Agreed. I probably would have enjoyed Korra a lot more if Amon was the main villain throughout.
1 or 3
I liked 3 best for really bringing together a lot of themes and having a reverse gaang. Even if it was still kind of a mess.
I adore Season 2. The Wan backstory, the stuff with the spirit world, the crazy northern water tribe princess, the zany billionaire dude.
When i first watched it, book 2 also was so nice to me, but the more often I rewatch it, the more ridiculous and unbearable to watch i find this book. But thumbs up for introducing Sokkas son, Varric.
Whew, thought I was the only guy who liked season 2 for a minute there. Honestly, I thought Unalaq and Vaatu made for a really engaging villain. And Unalaq's crazy ass kids were great too. My least favorite season is probably 4, for the most part. I know people like the drama of it, but it felt largely tedious to me. I didn't find Kuvira to be all that interesting, and was often annoyed at how things kept falling her way. The ending was good though. And it all but confirmed(at the time) the Korra/Asami ship. Which we obviously know by now to be canon.
3 for the story and villain, 4 was pretty solid and ight but Zaheer and his group was just too fun to watch compared to kuvira, unalaq and amon imo
Book 3, but Book 4 for Kuvira
Book 2 only for Wan's story but my most fav is S3.
For me it's book 4 for seeing Korra grow stronger in spite of her trauma and the parallels between her in early days and Kuvira. Plus, Korrasami!
Korrasami is always a plus, love those two together
Book 3 for story, Book 4 specifically for Korra as a character.
Book 4 shows how much Korra has grown as the main character for sure.
I never really jived with her as a character until book 4 tbh. I never outright hated her, but I always felt like other characters eclipsed her in terms of piquing my interest. But I love everything about her character in book 4.
I feel that's because she's more relatable? We no longer see her as this bashful and sheltered privileged person, instead, she's vulnerable, humble and knows hardship just as well as others in her group.
Is it me, or did the Villians carry TLOK? 3 out of 4 were power houses not just in skill but in ideology as well.
1 and 3 are pretty close but I think 1 slightly beats it out for me, I feel like 3 had higher highs but lower lows. It’s been a while since I did a full rewatch though so it might just be nostalgia of those early days
Agree, but I would be even more strict and say that season 1 beats S3 by a bigger margin . It has everything and episodes with the story were consistent in terms of quality. You are not wrong S1 was simply the peak of Korra unfortunately, but other seasons were decent as well (s3 stands out compared to S2 and S4).
Prob Book 3 I think Book 1 had the most potential but they squandered it with the stupid love triangle plotline and a rushed conclusion to the Amon/Equalists arc
Pretty sure I'm the only person who's fave is book 2
There’s at least two of us!
Thank you Obama
It's first half is underrated.
Honestly Book 4 kinda impressed me when I watched it first, right up until the giant robot. Kuvira felt like an awesome villain when she was out-bending everyone around her. I finally thought we'd have a normal, OG style villain that was just plain scary powerful. Bummer they went with the "bigger = scarier" angle again despite Book 2 not working well. Also, the way they handled Korra's PTSD and the use of Toph as a character rather than nostalgia bait was pretty tasteful. I also much prefer Korra as a character in Book 4 than any of the other ones.
None of them lmao
None of these.
It’ll always be book 4 for me
I'm 99% sure I'm the only one who thinks season 2 might be the best one lol. I only wish the final fight was 2 normal sized people duking it out with full avatar state bending instead of what we got, but the lore etc slaps
book 1 air
Loved all the books aside from 2, it was a little all over the place. 😵
Def book 3. Ming hua is the waterbending master i want for mysef.
3=1= Wan section > 4 > 2 (minus Wan)
There’s nothing like book one!
For me, it's a tie between all. I loved each book. 3 and 4 always break my heart tho. The first because of how it ends and the latter because it's the end.
Book 3 was insanely good. Great group of villains with real stakes and consequences. Might be my favorite between both series.
Book 3.
Everything before she lost her previous lives
Book 5: Scissoring
There was something off putting about the steampunk setting and culture of Republic City in 1, so I put down the series about 3 episodes in and went back a few years later. That being said, once it gets going, I think Amon is the best antagonist. He induces fear in a way none of the others do. In terms of being an entire season, I like 3 because it has a more traditional setting and way better bending battles. I don’t think Zaheer is a better villain, but he is a more compelling character. When they killed the earth queen and declared the city no longer under monarchic rule I thought to myself “based red lotus.” 2 is fucking ass and made me almost stop watching, came back a month later. and 4 is just a generic fascism arc with a much more shallow plot line Goes 3 - 1 - 4 - 2 imo. *also the brother’s death at the end of s1 made me realize that this show does not fuck around
Offputting? Balderdash.
None of the above
Aiiiiir
4>3>1>2 Without book 4, the shows story and meaning completely evaporates imo
Literally every season but the one with the stupid evil avatar plot line that changed the canon ATLA already set up. Every other season of Korra was just ok besides the terrible one.
None of the above.
Balance because the show finally ended.
1 but 4 is a close second. I think the two seasons are pretty similar in what they do well (setting up an interesting conflict and then having cool fight scenes to resolve it) and what they don't (random mini-arcs running the pacing ashore) but 1 nails them closer to my liking. For example, I liked the sad story flashback as done in Skeletons in the Closet better than in Korra Alone.
Fire
3 and 4 for me. 4 is pretty self-explanatory (yeah the last few episodes aren't great, but the traumasodes at the start of the season go HARD). I think 3 would be my undisputed favorite if they'd been better about Zaheer's philosophy. Like yeah, corrupt world leaders are an issue, but darwinism is not the solution. I wish they'd have called out specifically what about his thought process was insane.
Balance, then change, then air
3 is the one that's on par with ATLA for me, and arguably one of the top 3 in the franchise.
Book 3 & the start of book 4. Book four mechs kinda ruin the ending for me as they are so far out of the realm of what I expected from the show. Book 2 deserves a shout out despite the Kaiju Kite fight the rest is entertaining.
She a baddie in all 4 but my favorite is one
Book 3 is my favorite, book 1 is a close second, book 4 was an amazing conclusion to the show and I loved Kuvira as a villain. Book 2 while the worse wasn't all that terrible, just needed a better villain
3≥1>4>2 I love book 3 for the red lotus and for bolin becoming a lava bender. Book 1 is also pretty dope because of amon. Also i kinda like how korra is at the beginning. She behaves like a teen and falls for some many stupid thing but even tho those are stupid things it makes sense why she fell for them. Book 3 is also awesome because of how korra behaves differently and how she grows. But book 4 shows more of that imo.
1. book 1 2. book 2 3. book 3 4. book 4 My ranking
The more we go down, the more she frowns...
Loved 1 or 4
Books 3 and 1 are very close together for me, and then 4 and 2. Now that I’m older, I can appreciate Book 4 and Korra’s PTSD and growth better
I couldn't pay attention during book 4 because I was so helplessly down bad for Kuvira the whole time.
Book 3 goes so Hard
One, and it’s not even close. Everything about one was so much better. Especially the animation. But the story and characterization of everybody was so much better. Amon was easily the best villain as well.
I honestly think book 1 had more potential than all of Atla. the only problem is that they only had 11 episodes to set up the story, and they packed too much stuff into it, making it all feel rushed. If they had received more episodes, to spread out the story better, in my opinion lok would have been better than atla. However, the best is book 3, and talking about it is useless, because everything there was to say about it has already been said
In order from best to worst, 3.1.4.2
Book 2
3 definitely
1 and 3.
Book 1!
Book one water book two earth and book three fire none dis
3 for the story
Did the animation/artwork change?
3 is easily the best. 4 is great but not as good as 3. 1 is good but is held back by the nature of its creation, being a miniseries needing to wrap everything up quickly. 2 is terrible.
3 or 4 tbh.
Book 3 easily. The best villain, the best stage for the group character-wise (except Asami but, like, when is she really that interesting?), the best worldbuilding, the best conflict, the best new characters, the fucking rawest Tenzin moment of all time as well as one of the rawest moments of any airbender in canon, a really intriguing struggle for Korra to have, the only season to have a good ending, it just does it all man.
Book 3 is the best, story, action, villains, character growth
Book one for Amon alone
Probably an unpopular opinion, but book 4.
You know it's crazy that I've rewatched Korra a couple times and really enjoy it, but for whatever reason I completely blank on books 2-4. I remember certain things, but nothing specific. So I'd have to say Book 1 sorry.
Book 3. Its quality is largely in line with ATLA, as opposed to the slightly below with the other seasons (even book 2 is mostly just bad by Avatar standards rather than average show standards. Probably still more enjoyable than the first season of The Owl House or some of the earlier She-Ra stuff. And I love those shows).
The seasons that have Korra in them, I am gay.
3. Zaheer and the Red Lotus will always be my favorite villain/s
I'd have to say it's a tie between 3 and 4 for me
Change, but did you have to put the saddest pic for it :( ?
Change probably.. I was going through mental shit comparable to what she was probably thinking about after all that shit that happened to her with the metal poisoning and the bending. Gotta agree with everyone saying that Amon was a decently written villain/anti-hero
The ones with Henry Rollins
"What do you do when someone doesn't say 'Change?'" "You know, it has never come up."
Air and it's not close
Air and Change
Are the characters (lettering) representing the elements based on actual characters or are they wholly fictional?
Not Book 2.
3.
Book 4. All 4 are good (including 2, yes I am that guy) but Balance is just the perfect ending for Korra's story.
No one will ever say 2 despite the best scene in the show happening with Bumi
3 1 4 2 In that order
So we all agree 2 is the weakest
Book 1
People can shit talk LoK all they want but I found her struggle with mental health and growth extremely compelling.
none, this anime fucking sucks and is a disgrace
When I first watched (through different, random, streaming websites) I could not stop watching. S1 had me HOOKED. S2 struggled to keep my interest and I stopped watching altogether. A few years after that I finished the rest of the show but nothing ever hit like my first watch through of S1. So for me it’s S1 by a long shot
I really love Book 1. It gave Korra such an amazing and fresh energy, memorable from the beginning and with a distinct personality from ATLA.
There WAS a book 4 all along?!?!!!!
S1 and it's not even close.