Avatar: The Legend of Korra, the foil to The Last Airbender
About a year ago I bought the bluray copies of Avatar: The Last Airbender & Avatar: Legend Of Korra. It had been some time since I watched the shows and have had a lot of time to think about both of them. Recently Netflix started streaming The Last Airbender again and got people talking about both shows, so I thought I should give my two cents. This is why I think Korra is actually a perfect match for the Last Airbender
Story and Plot: Heroes Journey vs Anthology
To start off I would like to say I do think TLA (The Last Airbender) is a better show, and for a lot of reasons. However, that’s not to say LOK (Legend of Korra) is bad by any means. LOK has many strong elements mainly lying in Korra as a character. The thing is TLA is so good that hard it’s to compete. TLA is one of purest forms of the heroes’ journey only really matched by Lord of the Rings. From the opening title, we know that Aang has a set destiny and we know what he has to do to achieve this destiny. From then on we experience this journey for three seasons and through the perspectives of several characters. The journey is further developed by giving us milestones for Aang. The milestones being that he has to learn three elements (since he already knows air-bending) and one element per season. This makes the overall journey very streamlined and easy to follow. We know that by each season he has to learn an element and by the end of the season we move closer to the end.
LOK is more of an anthology series. While there is an overarching story each season, Korra still faces a new threat and a new antagonist. While Korra also does have a goal each season it isn’t as streamlined as TLA and there is no time contrast for her to achieve these goals. Korra’s story is also mainly set in the same location: Republic City. While she travels often most of the time she ends up back in the city making it a very passive story. Unlike Aang , Korra herself is very passive. Aang would travel from place to place to achieve his goal or get him closer to achieving it. Examples being: he goes to the North Pole to find a water bending teacher, he goes to the Spirit Library to get an edge on the fire nation, or when he goes to Ba Sing Se to prevent a Fire Nation from taking over. This makes Aang an active character as he is constantly moving to achieve his goal thus moving the plot forward. Korra however only moves anywhere to either chase or capture a villain or is captured and physically moved there, for the most part. This makes Korra passive as she is being moved by the plot to achieve something.
Story & Plot: Antagonist.
In TLA we very obviously have the Fire Nation as our antagonist. More specifically we have Zuko, Azula, and the Fire Lord himself as the main antagonist for each season. While some side villains show up here and there it’s really the Fire Nation that consistently stays as the main antagonist. Having the same antagonist throughout each season allows us as an audience to understand them and their goals as well as increasingly fear them and build the tension for each season. Especially since each antagonist becomes more effective and intimidating each season as we get closer to the end game.
In LOK Korra is faced with a new enemy each season. This gives the audience less time to understand the antagonist and less time to flesh them out. This Gives us villains that are very lacking like Unalaq and Kuvira. However, we can explore new ideas of villains and realms of the very fascinating world. Amon and his non-benders is a very interesting segment as we rarely saw the non-benders perspective in TLA. Of course, we had Sakka but that was only one person. This was the first time we experienced the fear and anxiety non-benders had living in a world basically surrounded by superheroes. We also get Zaheer one of my favorite antagonists in both series. Zaheer who is an airbending antagonist (very cool in it of itself) brings to light a very interesting idealism. That being “should there be an Avatar”. This is a very fascinating philosophy which is in some cases slightly convincing. While Amon is more mysterious we get to understand Zaheer and his ideology.
While it may be more effective narratively to have a single antagonist throughout a series, LOK’s antagonist opens up a lot more lore in the show and shows. Even Unalaq who I viewed as a very boring villain gave us a look at the first Avatar: Avatar Wan. Which expanded the lore of the show and really showed us the creativity of the writers.
All around it is easier to connect with the heroes’ journey rather than an anthology series. That’s not to say LOK’s plot is bad. As I stated before LOK broadens the lore of the series and gives us a look at many different people’s ideologies. Korra’s development throughout the series is also very interesting and she does have great character development toward the end which is opposite to Aangs, but I will get to that later.
Characters: Side Characters
This brings me to my next topic of characters. Nearly every side character in TLA has some sort of development with the exception of the Firelord and Momo. Almost all the characters have entire episodes devoted to them and we can see how this journey has affected them and how they have grown from it. Even Appa, a giant flying bison, has an episode dedicated to him.
Zuko most especially has the most development of any character, even more than Aang. We see a lost child trying to achieve something almost impossible to be accepted by a man who hates him, turns into a man who faces his reality with open arms, and moves on to help save the world. The character development on this show is truly next level.
In LOK we have nearly twice the size of characters but half the character development. There are major changes for some characters mainly with Tenzin and his daughter Jinora. We see Jinora hone her skills as an airbender and a spiritualist, and Tenzin learns to ease his burden. However many characters have either half baked development or are pushed off to the sidelines. Mako and Bolin are prime examples. They played a major role in the first season but as the following seasons played out they didn’t really get to do much else and ultimately stayed the same. To explain further both Bolin and Mako are given stories but its mainly reduced to helping the main characters do a task, and Bolin randomly became an actor for like 6 episodes. Not to mention that toward the end of the series there are about 5 comic relief characters which are about 4 too many.
Characters: Main Characters
When it comes to main characters both shows really shine. Aang and Korra are honestly both great characters. The most impressive thing is that both of them are polar opposites. In regards to both characteristics and their story
Aang is a young boy who finds himself in a position he doesn’t want to be in. He doesn’t want to be the avatar and is unsure of his abilities. He wants to have fun and be a kid, but the world needs him to be something more. He learns to embrace his position and accepts his destiny. He is often afraid of taking on too much responsibility and tries to run or hide from it. However, as he matures he faces more challenges quicker and finds more confidence in himself and his abilities. He then accepts his destiny and role as the Avatar and helps bring peace to the world.
Korra on the other hand revels in being the avatar. She loves the responsibility and privilege it comes with. She’s very cocky at first and doesn’t fear anything. The biggest fear she faces throughout the show is no longer being the avatar because she thinks that’s all she is. As she continues her journey she becomes less confident and more afraid. She loses battles more and is unsure of herself and her abilities. She was brought into the world at the time of peace and prosperity. She matures as she sees the darker parts of the world and learns that being an avatar can’t solve everything. Korra’s story is a story of self-discovery. She learns that she loses battles not because she is weak but because she is uncertain about herself and her future. In the end, Korra learns to accept herself as not the avatar but as Korra.
If you notice these characters reflect the issues their demographics face. Aang who is only 12 in the beginning learns that he will have to grow up one day and accept new responsibilities much like a child has to learn at a similar age. Korra who is 17 in the beginning, learns self-acceptance and self-love. While she might like more responsibility and freedom she learns that it isn’t all easy. You may get knocked down a few times, but as long as you don’t lose track of who you are you will always get back up. In the end, I find myself enjoying Korra’s character more. Perhaps it is my age but I find her development more real and relatable. Both are coming of age stories, but for different ages. Thus they face different dilemmas and come to different conclusions.
Conclusion
TLA may be a better show, but I don’t think that the writers wanted to make LOK better. They wanted to add to the show not compete against it, and that’s what it’s achieved. They could have made a nostalgia-filled show that only reflected on the TLA. Or they could have made another Hero’s journey in which Korra goes off to learn the elements and fight a nation, but they did something different. They made a show in a different era with different realms to explore, for a different demographic. They didn’t want to do the remake the same thing they wanted to expand what they already made and they achieved that. Thus they created a perfect foil to match TLA. A show that broadens the lore and explores new ideas and lifestyles of people. They made a show that matured with their audience and I find that admirable.
