The Legend of Korra: "The Revelation" (Episode 3)

After last week's rousing spike in readership (according to Google's analytics, I scored seventeen page views, of which probably only ten were me!  Another fun fact:  My top referral site is not Google, or any other search engine.  It's a malware site.  In Russia.), I thought I might make a weekly habit of reviewing the newest episode of The Legend of Korra.  I think I may even have enough crackpot theories to sustain the entire season.  So hopefully my virus-bearing comrades will bear with me long enough to make this a viable feature.  I will try to post each new review on Monday, but no promises.

By the way, I'm going to go ahead and assume you've already seen "The Revelation".  There's going to be discussion of plot points from the episode from here on.  You've been warned. (And why haven't you watched it yet?  It's available at Nick's website right now!)

So, without further eloquence, my review of "The Revelation"

This is really Amon's episode.  It's his true introduction to the viewing audience--and even seems like it might be his introduction to his followers in Republic City, since he begins his speech with his life's story (more on that in a minute).  Steve Blum really shines in this role.  I thought sometimes his voice-over of Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop) could tend toward being overdramatic, but that same tendency works wonderfully for Amon, who is the Avatar world's version of a cult evangelist.  He would want his words to be dramatic, commanding, and ominous to galvanize his supporters.  I think the mask really sells it, too.  To hear Blum's lines coming out of the unmoving mouth of Amon's creepy-looking mask adds a sense of mysticism to the character (which he is obviously trying to capitalize on, with the titular "Revelation" of his ability to remove a person's bending).

So what have we found out about Amon?  He claims (and I think it's important that his word is all we've been given, so far) that he's the son of non-bending farm folk who get killed by a firebender extortionist.  He says that the firebender also burned off his face, necessitating the mask.  Now, the way this background is delivered seems a little too on-the-nose to be true, or at least to be the whole story.  Just from having watched the previous series, that doesn't seem to be the way that Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino go about their narrative business.  Katara doesn't reveal that her mother was killed by firebenders in her second line in the series.  Zuko's tragedy is only hinted at until Iroh gives us narration over flashbacks.  I believe even Jet is given some flashbacks.

Amon goes on to say that the spirits are disappointed in the Avatar, and that they have chosen him to restore balance to the world, by taking away people's ability to bend.  A lot of furor (well, furor might be too strong a word) has grown within the Avatar viewing community, because the way Amon takes people's bending away looks different from when Aang bent Fire Lord Ozai's energy.  But after watching the episode again, I realized that Amon never claims to be able to energybend.  He announces only that he has been given the power to take away a person's bending... permanently.  Of course, the conclusion that we have all jumped to, as viewers of the Avatar: the Last Airbender (spoiler alert: Aang wins!), is that he is using energybending, since that is the only technique that we have been shown that takes away a person's bending... permanently.  But I have a feeling that, if Bryan and Mike had wanted us to believe definitively that Amon is an energybender, they would have written the "Lightning Bolt Zolt" sequence (I love his New York/New Jersey accent, by the way) to be identical to the energybending sequence shown in A:tLA--you know, big glowing lights, touching the heart and the forehead (Amon does forehead and back-of-the-neck).  I think they want us to have some questions about the veracity of Amon's claims.  It's also interesting to note that Amon has yellow eyes, meaning that he has some Fire Nation lineage in his blood at some point.  The tactics that his thugs use are also pretty brutal.  Electrified billy clubs, abductions... who knows what those chi blockers were going to do to Korra and Mako if Naga had not worked her way free?

A lot of the rest of the episode is primarily world-building, so I'll just hit some of the high points:

• Although it only struck me after repeated viewings, one thing that the first three episodes have all alluded to is the fact that there's a lot of corruption in Republic City.  I don't think it's something to which the creators are trying to draw a lot of attention, but aside from the obvious references to extortion and gangs, we've got an exploitative president of pro bending, street urchins selling information for cash, and even a police chief who releases a prisoner due to political pressure (though there were extenuating circumstances).  This is not a nice place that Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko have created.
• Thus far, Bolin is the most genuinely touching and human character that the show has drawn.  Bolin's dejection (pictured above) when Mako dismisses his idea to make money for the tournament (have his pet fire ferret, Pabu, perform circus tricks) is quite authentic and quite sympathetic.  Being a younger brother to three siblings myself, I gave him a silent "aww" when he replies: "I was being serious."  This idea of sibling rivalry is new, and I think fertile, ground for the Avatar universe to explore.  I also look forward to learning more about the brothers' criminal past.
• The art remains stellar.  Amber tones cast a dirty, but also nostalgic, pall over the city, which fits beautifully with the era that the series is trying to evoke.  By contrast, all the scenes drawn on Air Temple Island are sharp and vividly-colored, showing how remote from the city and its concerns Tenzin really is.
• I do worry that the series is jumping into the main conflict a bit too quickly.  I still don't have a great feel for Korra and how capable she is at various aspects of being the Avatar.  For all her supposed skill and talent, it seems like she's getting beaten up pretty regularly.  Also, as I mentioned previously, I'm not seeing very many high-level bending moves, making me think that the duel with Amon that the next episode is promising will not have very high stakes for the show.  Nothing is going to change as a result of Korra fighting Amon in the fourth episode.
• Side note: why do some of the people in Republic City (and in the Avatar universe in general, I guess) have last names (Hiroshi Sato, Toph and Lin Beifong) and some don't?  At first, I thought maybe it was just an Earth Kingdom thing (Long Feng also has one, obviously), but Bumi, Haru, Earth King Kuei, and everyone from any other nation only has one.  What decides whether or not a character gets a last name?

Crackpot Theory of the Week:  Amon's bending-block-that-may-or-may-not-be-energybending is a hoax.  The Triple Threat Triads were in on it and acting the part.  Look a how closely Lightning Bolt Zolt's act mirrors the way Fire Lord Ozai reacted after Aang took his bending away.  It's almost like he studied it, so that he would know how to act when his bending was supposedly taken away.  Bolin was told about the job, but after seeing Amon's act, thought it was legitimate.  Amon will use Korra's fear of him taking away her bending to trigger the Avatar State (remember, it's a defense mechanism), which will decimate part of Republic City and leave a power vacuum that Amon will exploit.

One more note: Having watched the entire run of Avatar: the Last Airbender, beginning-to-end, in about the space of a week, I was not bothered by the last-episode reveal of the energybending as a potential solution to Aang's problem.  Now, watching The Legend of Korra as a weekly serial, I can see why a lot of fans called energybending a deus ex machina.  The worlds are so tightly built that fans all over are brewing up theories about who Amon really is, whether or not he can really energybend, whether or not Korra can go into the Avatar State, etc.  I would be really disappointed if, for example, Korra was able to go in and out of the Avatar State at will and use that to defeat Amon.  It hasn't been supported by the show.  It reminds me of how the experience of watching television has changed in the past ten years.

All images are the property of Nickelodeon, Inc., Bryan Konietzko, and Mike DiMartino.  All rights reserved.