Episode link is the same as the one in my review of episode 11, but here it is again. Just click forward to the diamond about halfway across the screen and you'll begin "Endgame".
Also, it's a small matter, but the Nick website lists the episode's name as "End Game," while the episode itself reads "Endgame". I went with the episode's version. You gotta deal with it.
So there it is. One season of The Legend of Korra is in the books. Instead of going over the whole season, I'd like to take this episode in its own right and judge it on its own merits. The season overview will have to wait for another post.
There were several winning scenes in this final episode: Moments that caused an emotional reaction in me. One of them is pictured above. But I'll repeat the question I've asked in the past: Were they earned? Did the series follow through on a plot thread they'd been developing throughout the season, or did it just cue up the dramatic music and draw a character with a tear running down his/her cheek?
So, I've decided that, instead of doing a rundown of the episode and analyzing it, I'm going to pick out these points and discuss whether or not they were earned moments. After that, I'll give my final grading of the episode.
So, I guess I'll begin with the moment shown above in the screen capture:
The Death of Amon
Moment: Noatak flees Republic City on a motorboat with his brother Tarrlok, whom he'd just freed from prison. Zipping along through the waves, Tarrlok tells his brother "It will be just like old times." A single tear runs down Noatak's face and Tarrlok ignites the gas tank in the boat, using one of the electrified gloves designed by Hiroshi Sato. A plume of smoke rises on the water's horizon.
Did it work? Yes.
Possibly the most poignant and well-scripted scene in the entire series so far, this moment works only if we consider Tarrlok and Amon/Noatak as part of the same unit. Each completes the other's character arc, until we are left with two sides of the same coin, trying to right the wrongs that were ravaged upon Republic City by their father in completely different ways. Both realizing that their bloodline has been responsible for terrible crimes against Republic City, past and present. And they make sure that their bloodline cannot cause any more misery. Amon is aware of what his brother is doing, but he makes no motion to stop him. He sheds his tear, and accepts punishment.
Ordinarily, I would gripe about Amon being too ill-defined until the next-to-last episode, and then asking us to read tragedy from his character through some hasty exposition, but I'm not doing that for two reasons. One, the back story was just that good, earning its tragedy on its own terms, and I'm not sure how the show could have introduced it any sooner. Two, this isn't just the story of Amon. It's the story of Amon and Tarrlok. As I wrote above, they are two sides of the same coin, and those times we don't get characterization on Amon, we're almost getting it from how the show portrays Tarrlok.
I can easily imagine Noatak coming into Republic City in a similar manner to how Korra showed up. He would want to use his power to fight the corruption and widespread bender violence perpetrated by the triads. But when he wrecked up the city, there was no Tenzin to get him out of prison, and no Tenzin to guide him through life in the city. He would have been rotting in jail for trying to do the right thing, while these bending gangs intimidated and destroyed the lives of non-benders throughout the city. To him, the bending police were maintaining the status quo for the bending triads. Now, the way Avatar Aang fought that was by taking away the bending of criminals like his father. Wouldn't that be the best solution in Noatak's mind? Although the series doesn't give us this back story, the characterization that was done in that flashback was rich enough to allow the viewer to reasonably create his or her own.
Airbender Extinction
Moment: After Amon reveals his scarred face (which would seem to contradict the assertion that he is a bloodbender), Mako and Korra make a move to get out of the arena. Amon tells her to stick around for the main event, and Tenzin and his three children, the last airbenders in the world, rise up onto the stage, shackled to what looks for all the world like an execution scaffold.
Does it work: Yes, mostly
Tenzin and his family not only carry the bloodline of an endangered race and style of bending, they have been interwoven with the series in nearly every episode. The carefree mannerisms and innocence of the children have been on display in numerous episodes. Tenzin has been portrayed not only as a father to the main character of the series, but also as someone who can get a situation under control. Korra looks to him for support and stability, so to see him bound to a post, having been unable to even protect his children, is a shocking moment, and it has built on the feelings that the series has created within the audience to provide impact.
That being said, the reason I added the qualifier "mostly" above is for two reasons. Number one, it felt like a bit of a cheat, after it appeared that the airbender family got away at the end of "Turning the Tides". There was no indication that any other airships were following them, so it never seemed like a possibility that they would have gotten captured. Number two, if the airbenders got captured anyway, what did Lin accomplish through her awesomely-heroic sacrifice in "Turning the Tides"? Does that moment get robbed of its power because of its inefficacy?
Korra's Salvation
Moment: After Katara tells the group that she cannot restore Korra's bending, Korra falls into deep despair. Depending on how you read the scene, she might be contemplating suicide. Then she backs away from the cliff and begins to cry. At that moment, a pair of legs appear that Korra (and the audience) takes to be Tenzin's. However, the camera pans up and Avatar Aang is standing beside her. He is at the head of a triangle of Avatars that stretches back into the distance, and their glowing Avatar State is transmitted into Korra, who regains her bending powers.
Does it work: Eh, fifty-fifty
Korra does not really earn her salvation. She keeps doing things the same way she's always done them, and this one time, when it looked like she was going to have to learn a lesson the hard way, Avatar State comes and bails her out, restoring the core of her self-image--her bending skill. So what she learns is that patience is for chumps, because if she gets into any serious trouble, the Avatar State will bail her out.
On the other hand, if you believe the suicide theory, the decision to live is a pretty powerful one in its own right. That may be her first step to realizing that the world is larger than just her and her problems.
And I have to be honest, the chance to see Aang again, acting in the present, was pretty awesome for a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. They can trade on the characterization they've done over the course of three seasons (and one flashback this season) to the extent that I was just happy to see him again. And it was exciting to see all of the past avatars show up, after having been cut off from them all season.
You really are a horrible father
Moment: Asami, using one of her father's mecha tanks to smash up some of the biplanes that are going to be used to attack the United Forces fleet, has to confront her father, who is also driving a mecha tank. He attacks her, and after a short battle, is staring down the barrel of one of her metal pincers. But she has a moment of hesitation, and he launches a pincer at her and runs toward the opening of the airfield. Knowing that he is at her mercy, Asami echoes Bolin's earlier words: "You really are a horrible father," and brings him down.
Does it work? No, mostly
What the creators were trying to do is set up a scene that recalls the battle between Zuko and Azula in the series finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It could have been masterful. The reason it is not is that Asami's characterization has been so weak this season that I do not have many of her motivations that would show me how hard a time this is for her. The series has not shown us the amount of affection she had for her father prior to his reveal as an Equalist, nor has it gone to great pains to demonstrate the reasons why she sides with Korra and her gang, other than the fact that her boyfriend did. After Mako more or less dumps her, I don't see any reason why she stays on the side of the good guys. If the show had portrayed more of Asami's own convictions (and maybe a little more of the conflict within Hiroshi at what he was doing to Asami, considering that he loves her so much), this could have been a classic scene. Instead, it was all style and no substance.
Iroh's Big Adventure
Moment: After finding out that Hiroshi Sato knows the location of the rest of his navy, General Iroh commandeers one of the biplanes and heads out for battle. He takes down about six enemy fighters in various colorful ways before bailing out of his own damaged plane. He quips something to Aang's statue, and we never see him again.
Does it work? No
This is a character that never should have been introduced. If you want to have somebody dashing around doing heroic things, why not call Bolin, who has been woefully underused since about episode five. The show brought in a character whose existence had not even been hinted at before last week, and gave him one of the big action setpieces in the episode. And then, as mentioned before, he's gone. Why even include this portion of the episode? Couldn't we have used a bit better spacing somewhere else, like say, showing Korra's despair over losing her bending over a wider range of scenes? No good, Bryan and Mike. No good.
Give me more of Republic City's real hero: Uncle Bumi.
There were some other things in the episode that caught my attention (Korra's first airbending, the, uh, kiss...), but these were the main things that stood out as being cool to me on first viewing.
So overall, I give the finale a B. Solid storytelling brought down by unearned character moments that should have had more impact than they did. Also, the lack of Tenzin and Lin Bei Fong throughout most of the episode didn't sit well with me.
Other stuff (just a couple, because I've already blathered enough):
Until next season, I'll be waiting with Naga and all the rest of you.
Does it work? No, mostly
What the creators were trying to do is set up a scene that recalls the battle between Zuko and Azula in the series finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It could have been masterful. The reason it is not is that Asami's characterization has been so weak this season that I do not have many of her motivations that would show me how hard a time this is for her. The series has not shown us the amount of affection she had for her father prior to his reveal as an Equalist, nor has it gone to great pains to demonstrate the reasons why she sides with Korra and her gang, other than the fact that her boyfriend did. After Mako more or less dumps her, I don't see any reason why she stays on the side of the good guys. If the show had portrayed more of Asami's own convictions (and maybe a little more of the conflict within Hiroshi at what he was doing to Asami, considering that he loves her so much), this could have been a classic scene. Instead, it was all style and no substance.
Iroh's Big Adventure
Moment: After finding out that Hiroshi Sato knows the location of the rest of his navy, General Iroh commandeers one of the biplanes and heads out for battle. He takes down about six enemy fighters in various colorful ways before bailing out of his own damaged plane. He quips something to Aang's statue, and we never see him again.
Does it work? No
This is a character that never should have been introduced. If you want to have somebody dashing around doing heroic things, why not call Bolin, who has been woefully underused since about episode five. The show brought in a character whose existence had not even been hinted at before last week, and gave him one of the big action setpieces in the episode. And then, as mentioned before, he's gone. Why even include this portion of the episode? Couldn't we have used a bit better spacing somewhere else, like say, showing Korra's despair over losing her bending over a wider range of scenes? No good, Bryan and Mike. No good.
Give me more of Republic City's real hero: Uncle Bumi.
There were some other things in the episode that caught my attention (Korra's first airbending, the, uh, kiss...), but these were the main things that stood out as being cool to me on first viewing.
So overall, I give the finale a B. Solid storytelling brought down by unearned character moments that should have had more impact than they did. Also, the lack of Tenzin and Lin Bei Fong throughout most of the episode didn't sit well with me.
Other stuff (just a couple, because I've already blathered enough):
- If he commands a fleet of warships, shouldn't Iroh be an Admiral, like Zhao, instead of a General?
- Would it be unethical for Aang to ask Korra if he can possess her body for a couple of hours so that he can be with his wife and family for a while? I would like to see that.
- Season two could make a complete sap out of me, like it did in the original series for Zuko's character. I heard a rumor that more writers are being brought on board for the next season, so let's hope that one of them is Tim Hedrick. (UPDATE: One of them is Tim Hedrick. The other is Joshua Hamilton, responsible for such episodes as "The Chase", "The Ember Island Players", and... uh... "The Painted Lady".)
There's a couple of things I would like to write in the Korra-less interrim. One is a review of the season as a whole, as far as what worked and what didn't, and the other is a reorganization of the plots in this season so as to make it flow better as a whole. I will get around to that when I get a little time.
Also, all the episodes of the original series Avatar: The Last Airbender are up on Nick's website right now. They can be accessed here. If you haven't watched it and enjoyed Legend of Korra even a little bit, your enjoyment will be greatly enhanced by watching how it all started. Seriously great television.
Until next season, I'll be waiting with Naga and all the rest of you.
All images are the property of Nickelodeon, Inc., Bryan Konietzko, and Mike DiMartino. All rights reserved.
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