Slanderous Streams
Slanderous Streams
  • 3 months ago
Transcript
00:00:00over it considering how good Tenzin is here. Tenzin is delighted to learn about new airbenders to the point
00:00:05he's brought to tears over getting to do something his father dreamed of.
00:00:09It's a genuinely heartfelt moment for Tenzin and I like that, but doing it this way reveals cracks in the Air Nomad culture.
00:00:16The Air Nomads were so in tune with their spiritual side that every Air Nomad was an airbender.
00:00:21There were no non-benders in the Air Nomads. Well, there are now. Well, there are now.
00:00:27But there are now. The Air Acolytes are non-benders who are part of the Air Nation,
00:00:32but for some reason they weird- but for some reason they're always weirdly discounted.
00:00:38It's only the arrival of new airbenders that sparks the rebirth of the Air Nation as opposed to a boon for a nation that already
00:00:45existed.
00:00:48As opposed to a boon for a nation that already existed and was growing from the start of the show.
00:00:57Mm.
00:01:02Granted this was always a running undercurrent for the Air Nomad- granted
00:01:05this was always a running undercurrent for the Air Nomads,
00:01:08one of the reasons the Air Nomads traveled all over the world is to be of help to everyone,
00:01:12which says something about how the Air Nomads viewed other cultures as needing their help in the first place. In a world
00:01:18oriented around bending, being the sole nation to have a hundred percent of its members be benders would certainly influence how they interact with the
00:01:24rest of the world.
00:01:26This is all stuff that required-
00:01:33The Air Nomads have always been... kinda arrogant.
00:01:40Viewing themselves as above the world and its problems.
00:01:43It's all stuff that requires you to read between the lines,
00:01:45and I was hoping that Korra would address that. There might be enough to fill the temples again.
00:01:50Bro, the temples are full. You were there just last season. You saw the Air Nomads living there.
00:01:56But they aren't- but they aren't benders, so they just don't count.
00:02:01Despite giving- and despite giving their entire lives to the Air Nation,
00:02:05they're just a lesser class of people. If only we hadn't swept the whole benders versus non-benders thing under the rug. Imagine that, huh?
00:02:193x7, 14, 15.
00:02:43The part of the season where the Air Nation is actually training largely deals, once again, with Tenzin and his inadequacies in being outclassed
00:02:49as an airbender by his daughter.
00:02:51Tenzin seems to be struggling with the fact that, while he can be a great teacher,
00:02:55he's not the greatest airbender in the world, something he had to deal with last season as well.
00:03:02And Tenzin is used to training his children, who were born and raised Air Nomads.
00:03:05His new batch of recruits are all adults and teenagers, who balk at the idea of having to work hard at something, and want to be good at it right away.
00:03:13We're also introduced to Zaofu, a city devoted entirely to metalbending, led by Suyinbei Fong.
00:03:18This introduced the second Act B plot of Lin and Suyin's dysfunctional relationship. In case you haven't noticed, the A and B plot changes
00:03:26during the season more...
00:03:28In case you haven't noticed, the A and B plot changes during the season more so than any of the other seasons.
00:03:35The one scene I'd like to highlight as especially good is a very quiet scene where Korra gives Opalbei Fong introductory airbending lessons.
00:03:42Not only is it a show of how far Korra has come, a moment that is sadly rare in the series,
00:03:47but the gentle movements coupled with the flute music?
00:03:50Goddamn.
00:03:53Airbending dance. If I had never seen this show, and you showed me this scene and said they were setting up Korra and Opal,
00:03:59I'd believe you. But she actually shows attraction to Bolin, which is good. Opal has good taste.
00:04:06Suyin as a character is... Suyin as a character is
00:04:09interesting, but infuriating. Very gentle with people, very opinionated, but otherwise completely non-committal.
00:04:16Zaofu at times feels like a hippie commune, and Suyin will accept fugitives from other nations,
00:04:20which means Beric is here hiding from the United Republic and trying to build a hyperloop.
00:04:34The reason she's in Zaofu at all is because as a child she got arrested and Toph sent her away to keep...
00:04:41The reason she's in Zaofu at all is because as a child she got arrested and Toph sent her away to keep her daughter from going to prison.
00:04:48Suyin getting away with no consequences and scarring Lin in the process has been the reason Lin has avoided her entire family.
00:04:55And while in Zaofu, it starts eating away at her until she ends up in a physical altercation with her sister.
00:05:023x6, 1613. Huh, I'm getting this weird sense of deja vu.
00:05:103x6, 1613. Huh, I'm getting this weird sense of deja vu.
00:05:23Then Lin passes out for a full day and she and Su patch things up and Opal gets to go with the avatar to
00:05:28the Northern Air Temple. Anyway, I hope you like that subplot because it's over now because that night the Red Lotus shows up.
00:05:33Anyway, I hope you like that subplot.
00:05:35Anyway, I hope you like that subplot because it's over now because that night the Red Lotus shows up, drugs Korra, and tries to
00:05:40kidnap her and starts a full trench warfare fight in the middle of Zaofu. To its credit,
00:05:44this fight is actually interesting as two groups of extremely powerful benders are dug in fighting with the force of an artillery strike and
00:05:51the entire crew has to work together to make sure Korra is safe.
00:05:58And because Korra was out of commission the entire fight,
00:06:00it doesn't feel like she's been murked since she's under a paralytic poison, specifically to make her easier to capture.
00:06:05Catching the avatar unawares is a lot more interesting than just murking her in the avatar state for no reason.
00:06:35Minister and Rags, knock it off. Quit getting into it.
00:06:50This leads to a manhunt where everyone is trying to figure out how the Red Lotus got into Zaofu, where the lead characters flail
00:06:55around while Mako and this one Zaofu guard do all the real work.
00:06:59This leads to a manhunt where everyone is trying to figure out how the Red Lotus got into Zaofu, where the lead characters flail around while Mako and this one Zaofu guard do all the real work.
00:07:06All this leads to 3-8-21-03.
00:07:11As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:07:18As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:07:29As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:07:59As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:08:04As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:08:09As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:08:14As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:08:19As irritating as the Babysitter's Club is, I'm glad Korra's just not having that shit anymore.
00:08:24With Korra going into the spirit world where she finally gets to see Zaheer face-to-face.
00:08:28And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say.
00:08:31And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say and what his stake in all of this is.
00:08:35And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say and what his stake in all of this is. 3-9-18-10.
00:08:37And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say and what his stake in all of this is. 3-9-18-10.
00:08:38And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say and what his stake in all of this is. 3-9-18-10.
00:08:39And so we finally get to hear what Zaheer has to say and what his stake in all of this is. 3-9-18-10.
00:08:42Oh. He's an anarchist.
00:08:45He wants to tear down all world governments, plunge the world into chaos and true freedom, and return humanity to the spirits.
00:08:48He wants to tear down all world governments, plunge the world into chaos and true freedom, and return humanity to the spirits.
00:08:51I gotta say, Breik, after two seasons where you take an interesting philosophy and water it down to something simple and stupid,
00:08:53I gotta say, Breik, after two seasons where you take an interesting philosophy and water it down to something simple and stupid,
00:08:56it's nice to see you actually working with something on your level for once.
00:08:59Anarchism is the laughingstock of the political world.
00:09:03Anarchism is the laughingstock of the philosophical world.
00:09:06Oh, there have been plenty of noteworthy anarchist thinkers who have managed to collectively achieve jack-fucking-and-shit.
00:09:09Oh, there have been plenty of noteworthy anarchist thinkers who have managed to collectively achieve jack-fucking-and-shit.
00:09:12I mean, communism managed to establish itself in several nations, at least.
00:09:15Granted, you'll rarely ever meet an anarchist thinker in real life.
00:09:18It's usually anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-communism, or anarcho-syndicalism,
00:09:21It's usually anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-communism, or anarcho-syndicalism,
00:09:24which is to anarchism what an aluminum Christmas tree is to a forest.
00:09:27which is to anarchism what an aluminum Christmas tree is to a forest.
00:09:30Zaheer does wax poetic about freedom a lot, but his true purpose is pretty simple.
00:09:33Zaheer does wax poetic about freedom a lot, but his true purpose is pretty simple.
00:09:36The Earth Queen has been established as a tyrant, and he exists for no other reason than to merc the Earth Queen.
00:09:39The Earth Queen has been established as a tyrant, and he exists for no other reason than to merc the Earth Queen.
00:09:46Fuck.
00:09:47Fuck.
00:09:54Which kind of sucks, because if you wanted someone to merc the Earth Queen,
00:09:57there's already a character who is more than capable of doing that,
00:10:00and who already has had personal dealings with the Earth Queen to the point she's driving them crazy.
00:10:03and who already has had personal dealings with the Earth Queen to the point she's driving them crazy.
00:10:05So they're both capable and willing.
00:10:07So they're both capable and willing.
00:10:10It's a little side character.
00:10:12It's a little side character in the show that most people don't quite remember.
00:10:15Her name is Avatar Korra.
00:10:19It's a little side character.
00:10:21It's a little side character in the show that most people don't quite remember.
00:10:24Her name is Avatar Korra.
00:10:27A character who has previously not been opposed to extrajudicial murder.
00:10:30Korra and the Judge.
00:10:33Given how much of Korra's arcs as a character is about her impulsivity,
00:10:36and how often she acts without thinking and isn't prepared for the consequences,
00:10:39Korra being the one to kill the Earth Queen and throw the Earth Kingdom into chaos
00:10:42after thinking she was doing everyone a favor, would be beautiful.
00:10:48It even leads into her self-imposed exile in the final season.
00:10:52Fucking what the hell is going on with my back today?
00:10:55Fucking what the hell is going on with my back today?
00:11:05It even leads into her self-imposed exile in the final season
00:11:08a hell of a lot better than the current canon,
00:11:10where she was off her groove after being turned into a brown and blue pinball.
00:11:17We get into season four, and everyone's like,
00:11:19Korra, you have to stop the evil tyrant!
00:11:21And she's like, I already did that, and I made everything worse.
00:11:24This is double the case given that the Avatar has dealt with the Avatar's ref-
00:11:28This is double the case given that Avatar has dealt with the Avatar's refusal to stop a problem-
00:11:33This is double the case given that Avatar has dealt with the Avatar's refusal
00:11:36to stop a problem world leader before he happens.
00:11:44Fuck!
00:11:54One second, I need my tens unit.
00:12:24Fuck.
00:12:54Fuck.
00:13:24Fuck.
00:13:36This is double the case given that Avatar has dealt with the Avatar's pro-
00:13:40This is double the case given that Avatar has dealt with the Avatar's refusal
00:13:43to stop a problem world leader before he happens.
00:13:49And Hu-Ting isn't like Ozai.
00:13:51She doesn't have bending to take away.
00:13:53Her ability to hurt people is systemic.
00:13:55And as we've seen, the Dai Li is the real power in the Earth Kingdom.
00:13:58The Queen doesn't really matter.
00:14:05I just came up with that on the s-
00:14:08Fuck.
00:14:12I just came up with that on the spot.
00:14:14I know you're probably thinking, Lily, the hero's not supposed to kill people.
00:14:17Yeah, let's tell a story about why that is.
00:14:21Oh, but no, we need to drag around Zaheer while he rants to-
00:14:26Oh, but no, we need to drag around Zaheer while he rants to his mother
00:14:30about how he's not going to tidy his room.
00:14:32It's interesting just how superfluous Zaheer is to the story.
00:14:38The fandom seems to think he's the greatest antagonist the show had
00:14:44because he suffocated a woman, and I guess that's badass or something?
00:14:50But Season 1 had multiple Bloodbenders bloodbending outside the full moon,
00:14:54and bloodbending is, like, the coolest technique in Avatar.
00:14:58So, like, step up your games, Zaheer.
00:15:01You're right next to a Lava Bender, the world's hottest Fire Bender,
00:15:04and a Master Water Bender who waterbends with no arms.
00:15:09Even Unalaq post-Lobotomy and Kuvira had more on-screen presence than you do.
00:15:14Then again, all those characters were good characters
00:15:17before the story snapped itself in two to force a villain into existence.
00:15:27While you are boring right from the start.
00:15:29So we don't even have a better version of Zaheer to work with,
00:15:31because the better version of Zaheer is Korra.
00:15:36In the end, once the Earth Queen is murked,
00:15:38it's just several episodes of the Red Lotus using blackmail.
00:15:47Sorry.
00:15:50In the end, once the Earth Queen is murked,
00:15:52it's just several episodes of the Red...
00:15:54In the end, once the Earth Queen is murked,
00:15:56it's just several episodes of the Red Lotus using blackmail
00:15:59and the threat of another Air Nation genocide to capture Korra
00:16:02and torture her into the Avatar state so they can kill her there
00:16:05and end the Avatar for good.
00:16:07A task they ultimately fail at due to...
00:16:09A task they ultimately fail at due to Deus Ex Genora.
00:16:13All of which is done through multiple overly long bending fights
00:16:17that sees P'Li, Ming'Wan, Ghazan all die.
00:16:20While Zaheer is taken in alive,
00:16:22none of it is particularly noteworthy
00:16:24unless seeing someone get electrocuted to death makes you excited,
00:16:27and without a real story to tell, the actual fighting is just...
00:16:30fighting.
00:16:31It may as well be an episode of Death Battle.
00:16:34Going back over Season 3, it's probably the messiest.
00:16:37It takes a very long time for the main antagonists to show their faces
00:16:40and do anything,
00:16:41and once they do, it's one speech about
00:16:43get out of my room, mom, and then regicide.
00:16:46and once they do, it's one speech about
00:16:47get out of my room, mom, and then regicide.
00:16:49And the season keeps swapping out new plotlines every few episodes
00:16:52and then has to very loosely tie them all together.
00:16:55and then has to very loosely tie them all together.
00:16:57It seems like Brad and his team are doing a pretty good job
00:17:01It seems like Brake thought,
00:17:03well, nobody liked our social revolution villains,
00:17:05so we'll just go back to just bending fights.
00:17:08But the problem with the first two seasons is
00:17:10you had interesting ideas,
00:17:12and then threw them away so you could go right back to anime fighting.
00:17:15And Season 3 is just the anime fighting.
00:17:24This isn't an improvement,
00:17:25it's just the boring latter halves of the season with actual...
00:17:29This isn't an improvement,
00:17:30it's just the boring latter halves of the season with actual promise.
00:17:33I maintain what I said,
00:17:34the whole season would be better if it was just about
00:17:37the new Air Nation and them crossing paths with the Earth Queen,
00:17:40ending with Korra getting fed up with Hu-Ting's bullshit
00:17:42and killing her herself.
00:17:49I remember the Red Lotus being more of a presence
00:17:52with plenty of weird dipshit anarchist rants
00:17:54to the point that my previous video basically had me go on
00:17:57to the point that my previous video had me bring up
00:17:59the point of power vacuums multiple times.
00:18:02But no, it really is just one or two, and that's about it.
00:18:05They are a non-presence throughout the season
00:18:07until it's time for a fight scene.
00:18:09They're like Team Rocket by way of Zack Snyder.
00:18:18They aren't characters, they're just boss fights.
00:18:20Ozai had more character than the Red Lotus.
00:18:23Fucking Zhao had more character than the Red Lotus.
00:18:29It seems the Red Lotus appeal among the fanbase
00:18:31lies entirely in the fact that Season 3 is the most violent season.
00:18:35Characters get suffocated to death.
00:18:37Korra's torture porn scenes are even more torture porn than before.
00:18:40Ming Hua dies of electrocution on screen.
00:18:43A character commits suicide on screen.
00:18:45Someone's head gets exploded.
00:18:47Korra gets beaten up so badly she ends the season in a fucking wheelchair.
00:18:50This season's a bloodbath.
00:18:52Which does answer my question.
00:18:54When animation fandom talks about things getting more mature or serious,
00:18:57it's usually getting closer to a level from Doom.
00:19:00I think of the whole...
00:19:04Zaheer is the distillation of what Avatar...
00:19:07Zaheer is the distillation of what Avatar fandom thinks a good villain is.
00:19:11Talks a lot of philosophy,
00:19:13but in such a way that the main characters might not want to animate...
00:19:17Talks a lot of philosophy,
00:19:19but not in such a way that means the main characters might not want to animate fight their way out of it.
00:19:23Unalaq written properly would have been one of the best antagonists the franchise ever had,
00:19:27but he also would have been boring in their eyes because when do things go boom?
00:19:31All in all, Zaheer...
00:19:33All in all, Zaheer is just blowing a lot of hot air.
00:19:36All in all, Zaheer is just blowing a lot of hot air.
00:19:46Whoever that was, thank you for following. I missed it.
00:20:00The Earth Empire.
00:20:02So the Earth Kingdom was thrown into complete anarchy when the Red Lotus murdered the Earth Queen,
00:20:06and has been split up into individual states that are constantly beset by bandits and warlords.
00:20:14Cosmomandy, you're gonna have to wait.
00:20:18Just hold on until I'm done recording, and then I'll show you the bit I did about it.
00:20:22...
00:20:29So the Earth Kingdom was thrown into complete anarchy when the Red Lotus murdered the Earth Queen,
00:20:33and has been split up into individual states that are constantly beset by bandits and warlords.
00:20:39Plans to get it reunited and quell the anarchy have been underway almost immediately,
00:20:42with everyone originally wanting Suyin Beifeng to lead the reunification movement.
00:20:46However Suyin reneged on the idea, on the basis that she doesn't want to force her idea on-
00:20:50However, Suyin reneged on that idea, on the basis that she doesn't want to force her ideas on others.
00:20:56And like...
00:21:00Suyin, they're asking you to help people being assaulted by every jackass with a spear, not become a dictator.
00:21:12In the wake of Suyin's unwillingness to actually do anything, the movement was spearheaded by Kuvira instead.
00:21:17Yeah, remember that really nice Zaofu guard from the previous season who was carrying the entire team?
00:21:21Yeah, she's evil now, I guess.
00:21:26She's been leading an army of soldier-
00:21:35She's been leading an army of soldiers, engineers, diplomats, and researchers as they go from state to state,
00:21:40clearing out the people causing misery, and bringing them back into the newly-reformed Earth Kingdom
00:21:44with the intention of reinstating the monarchy.
00:21:47It's been three years, and Kuvira has brought most of the states back under the banner of the Earth Kingdom,
00:22:00with only a few left to go.
00:22:02And it seems that three years of bringing every state back into the kingdom is starting to wear on Kuvira,
00:22:06because she looks like she needs a nap.
00:22:09Now, throughout the last three villains, I've made the point of saying that Bryke's belief that the need to have a villain
00:22:13has actively hamstrung most of the stories in Korra.
00:22:17All of them are about things that are better served without the need to make one party solely in the wrong
00:22:23to protect their precious status quo.
00:22:27The Equalist would have worked better as a genuine equality movement or as a conspiracy by the United Republic Council,
00:22:32but having them turn out to be a Rube army for a scammer was just the least interesting route they could take.
00:22:41Unalaq and Tarlaq were practically set up for an everyone-sucks-here kind of story,
00:22:45with extremely good parallels to the B-plot of Season 2 with Tenzin and his siblings.
00:22:49Zaheer is completely superfluous, and his role in the story regarding the Earth Queen would have been better served by Korra herself.
00:22:57Kuvira is the one where even people who are critical of the way Bryke writes villains will go,
00:23:01okay, this one works, because they just made her metal-bending Stalin.
00:23:06But weirdly enough, it takes a long time for that to establish itself.
00:23:09Characters are generally spreading rumors about Kuvira,
00:23:14but that's all they end up being for about half the season,
00:23:16and all Kuvira really does to support it is lecture a guy and smirk.
00:23:22Given that so far every villain has just been a,
00:23:24psych, it's actually opposite day,
00:23:26I will admit I was half expecting there to be a twist here,
00:23:29but no, no, she did all that shit.
00:23:32Kuvira is actually the most missed potential.
00:23:35This is a story about the Earth Kingdom in a period of upheaval,
00:23:38with someone deputized to bring the people back into a place of security and relative safety
00:23:42from an army of roving bandits.
00:23:51All with the aim of putting a spoiled little princeling back on his throne.
00:24:07The same throne that had been oppressing the Earth Kingdom for years,
00:24:11the same throne multiple characters in the previous season,
00:24:14including the Avatar herself, throw scorn onto.
00:24:18And now you have someone who isn't a world leader, or important figure,
00:24:21leaning the charge to protect her own people,
00:24:23and being expected to hand the reins of that over to the same people who caused this problem in the first place.
00:24:33And doing this during a time where the Avatar herself is nowhere to be seen.
00:24:38The prince didn't gain power at the end. No, he did. He's king.
00:24:54Kuvira could have been a walking representation of the frustrations of so many people.
00:24:58Frustration at the monarchy, at the Red Lotus, at the Avatar.
00:25:01Hell, Kuvira was there to see Korra get brutalized and left in a wheelchair.
00:25:04Maybe she's not angry with Korra.
00:25:06Maybe part of the reason she took the reins on this project was to give Korra time and space to rest and recover.
00:25:11Now you have the contrast of a normal person trying to do something the Avatar was previously doing.
00:25:16Would certainly explain why Bolin is there.
00:25:18Furthermore, several states don't want to be a part of the new Earth Kingdom.
00:25:22We get to see one of those states in the early episode, but that state is falling apart.
00:25:26That leads to interesting conversations about freedom versus security.
00:25:29Does the leader of a state have the right to turn away aid if that aid is the only thing keeping his people alive?
00:25:37Does freedom extend to people willingly choosing to destroy themselves?
00:25:43Should you just let them do it?
00:25:45Maybe each state ought to have a referendum, and if you're doing that, you're already making a case for democracy as a concept.
00:25:52The answer to all of these questions are probably yes, but taking the time to consider them would be interesting.
00:26:00But taking the time to consider them would be interesting.
00:26:03Anyone who's ever had to deal with a friend who's high 24-7 will tell you that you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped.
00:26:09In fact, there's an even better angle to take, because it's the United Republic itself spearheading the reunification of the Earth Kingdom,
00:26:16with the intention of putting Wu on the throne, and Raikou straight-up admits he's sending advisors to do all the real ruling.
00:26:24And it's the United Republic who gave Kuvira the reins on this project at all after she retook Ba Sing Se.
00:26:39So already the states have a very sound reason to not want to get involved with Kuvira.
00:26:46She's directly operating at the behest of the United Republic in the aim of re-establishing an oppressive monarchy that will become a puppet state for the Republic.
00:26:55That's some CIA shit going on, so I can certainly see why an individual state would be like,
00:27:02Yeah, we're not doing that, you fucking rube.
00:27:04I'm not the only one noticing this, right? Like, the United Republic is up to some shady shit in this season, and we just leave that there.
00:27:12Kuvira's reasoning for reneging on the deal is on the basis that the monarchy was terrible, and they want to put it back?
00:27:17We won't accept their hand-picked dictator.
00:27:19That's the kind of thing that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but... day-to-day governing.
00:27:24No, the United Republic literally admits to doing it.
00:27:36One second.
00:27:42...
00:27:49There we go.
00:27:59I talk about how this show tends to establish something really interesting and then proceeds to go set up another Frieza,
00:28:04but now we're getting into shameless underhanded power grabs by a rogue state,
00:28:09and the season isn't about that?
00:28:14Did nobody notice that because it didn't have a dramatic camera pan or ominous musical sting?
00:28:19All of these things would certainly make for a great story,
00:28:22especially with Korra coming back in the middle and having to get caught up on the last three years she missed,
00:28:27but it would necessitate, once again, the plot not jamming forks into its eyes to avoid thinking about these things.
00:28:33It would necessitate not ham-fistedly shoving a villain into the story.
00:28:37It would necessitate everyone's stance on the situation all being kind of bad,
00:28:41because none of them have had to deal with instability on this scale.
00:28:44But that doesn't Big Boom make pretty, though.
00:28:47This is a season that ends with a giant death robot going Godzilla on Chinatown,
00:28:52and if that doesn't tell you the wavelength the creator's on, nothing else will.
00:28:56They build a giant death robot with a frickin' laser beam attached to its arm.
00:29:01They build a giant death robot with a frickin' laser beam attached to its arm.
00:29:06This is what Evangelion would have been if the creator hadn't gotten depression partway through.
00:29:15Oh, and it's offhandedly mentioned in Reunion that Kuvira's been putting water and firebenders in...
00:29:19Oh, and it's offhandedly mentioned in Reunion that Kuvira's been putting waterbenders and firebenders into concentration camps,
00:29:25because, yeah, just throw in some concentration camps as an aside.
00:29:29Oh, yeah, speaking of throwing things in,
00:29:31you remember how in Season 2, Eska was weirdly dragging her brother around everywhere, even on double dates?
00:29:45And the only...
00:29:46And the only...
00:29:47And the only time she actually went against her father was when Desna got injured?
00:29:51Well, they actually make a joke about how that looked to some of the fandom.
00:29:554-3, 4-12.
00:29:56Funny joke, ha-ha, right?
00:29:58Ha-ha, funny joke, right?
00:30:00Ha-ha, funny joke, right?
00:30:02Kuvira's actually engaged to her brother.
00:30:05Ha-ha, funny joke, right?
00:30:07Kuvira's actually engaged to her brother.
00:30:11Kuvira's backstory involves her being adopted by the Beifong family,
00:30:14with tie-in comics later cementing this with her being referred to as Opal's sister.
00:30:18So this means her and Batar Jr. are siblings.
00:30:22And this is just sitting there.
00:30:26What's with the repetition? It's called multiple takes.
00:30:31And this is just sitting there.
00:30:34Nobody brings it up. We don't unpack it.
00:30:37At no point does anyone say to Batar...
00:30:39At no point does anyone say to Batar,
00:30:42At no point does anyone say to Batar,
00:30:50Oh no, no, I'm sorry. Batar does say something about it.
00:30:55She'll finally be an official member of the family.
00:30:59Really nice to know what Braig thinks about adop...
00:31:02Really nice... Really nice to know what Braig thinks about adoptees.
00:31:13And all Batar really amounts to after this is showing how far gone Kuvira is
00:31:17by trying to laser him in the face later in the season.
00:31:19It's like everything else Kuvira does.
00:31:21It's just offhandedly mentioned, and then we go back to watching Korra be bounced over the horizon.
00:31:28You know how people often say Korra walked so Steven Universe could run?
00:31:33Well, I'm not certain I'd agree with that,
00:31:35but it certainly did run so She-Ra could sprint.
00:31:38But it certainly did run so She-Ra could sprint.
00:31:43And all of that's a shame because out of every villain in the series,
00:31:45Kuvira's the only one who was just a regular person who stepped up when someone needed to.
00:31:49She had the potential for such an interesting perspective that no other antagonist could ever have.
00:31:54She grew up in a place where everyone was free to live how they wanted
00:31:57while also living in relative safety.
00:31:59Why wouldn't she want to bring that to the rest of her home?
00:32:07It doesn't even have to be without issue.
00:32:09I'm not saying Kuvira's the good guy, actually.
00:32:11My favorite moment in this series is when Kuvira and the governor are arguing
00:32:14because it's the distillation of what usually happens when leaders get into power struggles like this.
00:32:19Two people jockeying to be the one with the controlling stake in a region
00:32:23while the actual citizens are caught in the middle.
00:32:27I could certainly see Kuvira growing less patient and more controlling
00:32:30the longer the entire project goes on.
00:32:32This is certainly not the first fiefdom that's been stubborn about accepting her help.
00:32:46But just going the route of,
00:32:47the power went to her head, she's putting her dissenters into camps,
00:32:50she's exploiting states for their resources route,
00:32:53is so...
00:32:55boring...
00:32:56again.
00:32:58Like with every other season, if you want to be about big ideas,
00:33:01actually be about big ideas.
00:33:03This isn't anything new in storytelling, it's been a cliche for over a decade now,
00:33:06but Korra was one of the earliest shows to go,
00:33:08hey, Magneto was peak fiction, actually.
00:33:11And it arguably started a trend.
00:33:13Korra is at least partially responsible for inflicting RWBY on the world,
00:33:16and Bright should have to spend a few years counting pennies at a bank for that.
00:33:24Some people get the impression from me that I don't like complicated villains,
00:33:27but that's only partially true.
00:33:29I think the more complicated a situation is,
00:33:32the less something as simplistic as a villain fits the narrative.
00:33:46Kuvira is such a weird case,
00:33:47because every character in the season is some level of a jackass.
00:33:51Raikou's pulling some Netanyahu shit with Prince Wu,
00:33:54before Kuvira announces the Earth Empire to the world,
00:33:58we get an extended montage of Wu being the most unfit sack of shit imaginable,
00:34:02who nobody should trust with power.
00:34:05Suyin straight up refused to do anything when the Earth Kingdom fell into anarchy,
00:34:08and Korra's been backpacking across the Earth Kingdom, tripping on mercury.
00:34:15You can't show me every main character being the worst versions of themselves,
00:34:19and then have this happen, Earth Empire,
00:34:22and expect me to go,
00:34:23oh my god, she's gone too far.
00:34:25Because, do we have to choose between an idiot king and an evil dictator?
00:34:30Having to choose between evil and stupid is what we elect new presidents for.
00:34:36I guess the intention is we're not supposed to see Raikou's advisors as a power grab.
00:34:50...
00:34:53...
00:34:55I guess the intention is we're not supposed to see Raikou's advisors...
00:34:59...
00:35:07...
00:35:11...
00:35:14I mean I covered this show seven years ago,
00:35:16years ago and I'm only just noticing that part now. A big part of what's wrong
00:35:21with Quora is just how politically juvenile it is. And a lot of its
00:35:25positions were poor positions back in the early 2010s, but they're even worse
00:35:29now. The United Republic probably sounded like a good idea in 2012, but it sure as
00:35:34fuck doesn't now in a time where most of the audience for Quora is very much
00:35:38aware of how settler colonialism tends to play out in real life.
00:35:46So this final season being between metal-bending Mao and the world's
00:36:03dumbest pack of yokels isn't exactly that thrilling of a conflict. The only
00:36:07really fun part is the fact that, well, if I could be a little juvenile myself,
00:36:12Kuvira's cool? She's the most imposing antagonist the series has had, keeping
00:36:18control of every situation, making mincemeat out of most people trying to
00:36:22take her head on, and even fighting the Avatar and winning. In a less weird
00:36:26series, she would have been an antagonist I would be actively excited about seeing
00:36:30get bounced off a curb. This was why Ozai worked so well as a character. He's
00:36:34imposing and threatening and so deliciously hateable you're just looking
00:36:38forward to Aang kicking his ass. Some people think it's bad to think a villain
00:36:43is cool or badass, but the fun of a villain is when you have them
00:36:48properly is hyping up that final
00:36:53confrontation. My favorite point of comparison is Xehanort, a villain who
00:36:57spends an entire decade giving you more and more reasons to want to pound his
00:37:01face into the dirt, and then you finally get to and you hear that boss music and
00:37:05Rage Awakens starts playing and you go, this is my boss theme, bitch, and it's the
00:37:09greatest moment you've been teased for 13 years for. That's a villain. See, that's a
00:37:13fucking villain. That's a villain. See, that's a fucking villain.
00:37:19Kuvira, outside of the mess that is the story, has all the hallmarks of one of
00:37:25the best villains Avatar has ever had. She's not just imposing and threatening,
00:37:29she's also just a smug... she's also just a smug bastard. She takes huge gambits
00:37:35with the other characters and outplays them constantly. Looks like the Avatar is
00:37:39a little off her game. That little fucking dance, you asshole! This is where I end up
00:37:45conflicted because everything about the story would work so much better if
00:37:48Kuvira wasn't a villain, but Kuvira as a villain is fucking fun.
00:37:57She's the first fun villain the series has had. It's like her presence was
00:38:01written first and then stuck in the worst possible place for her to be. She's
00:38:05like if you took Irenicus and stuck him right in the middle of Disco Elysium.
00:38:10In fact, I can think of another character who would have been a much better suited
00:38:14for Kuvira's role as a villain, even with this story. A character who has been
00:38:18portrayed up to this point as controlling authoritarian, to a degree
00:38:21that can come off as extremely worrying, but for whom most characters would be
00:38:25hesitant to accept because of their pre-existing relationship with them.
00:38:31...
00:38:36Footage of Lin. If Lin had been the one reuniting the Earth Kingdom, she would
00:38:41have gone totalitarian in minutes and not hesitated about it. Lin has such a
00:38:48need for control and stability that it often goes to her- that it often ends up
00:38:52going to her head, to the point she even tries to play controlling mom to the
00:38:56Avatar of all people. Lin already had the personality profile to become a dictator,
00:39:00all she would need is a little push. Hell, everything I said before about Ku-
00:39:05about- hell, everything I said before about Kuvira potentially giving the
00:39:08Avatar space to recuperate goes double for Lin, to the point Korra would come
00:39:12home, see what's happened to one of her mentors, and be genuinely conflicted.
00:39:18How would you feel- how would you feel if someone who professed to care about you
00:39:23not only went against everything you'd ever believed, but did it in your name?
00:39:31Damn it, I gotta stop writing fanfiction in my serious critique videos. See, that's
00:39:35the problem- see, that's the problem with Korra as a property, it's trying to be
00:39:39two things that don't go well together. My example above with Lin is the only
00:39:43way you make a traditional villain work, and you do it by deprioritizing the
00:39:48politics and focusing on character-based storytelling. But instead, the show wants
00:39:53to be political at its core, and every season starts out doing that very well,
00:39:56but sooner or later, the compulsive need for a villain undermines all of it.
00:40:05It's hard to get invested in a story that starts out with the frictions
00:40:09between cultures trying to assert their own unique identity, and ends with
00:40:13defeating Satan with the power of believing in yourself. At times it feels
00:40:17condescending, like they don't think you're smart enough to realize how much
00:40:21they've chickened out of the very ideas they set up in the first place. Hell, the
00:40:25series tries its best to act like it didn't do that. 4-4-15-30.
00:40:34Can't a villain be fun and relatable at the same time? I mean, they could, but you
00:40:39need to be a really good writer to make that work.
00:40:47This is the writer straight-up lying to you. Amon didn't want equality for all.
00:40:52The whole plot of season one is that he's the biggest fucking liar on the
00:40:54planet. He wanted to destroy Bending.
00:41:04It had nothing to do with equality. Unalaq didn't bring back the spirits,
00:41:08Korra did. Unalaq was going to destroy the world and remake it in chaos.
00:41:13Zaheer believes in nothing, he's just ultimately following the rest of the
00:41:16agenda of the Red Lotus. An agenda so nonsensical that it's canon is that
00:41:20nobody knew what the hell their grievances were.
00:41:26That can be slightly understandable or relatable. They could, but they rarely are.
00:41:34Again, hey, Cosmo, if villains like this didn't suck so frequently, I would have
00:41:40I would have different feelings on the matter.
00:41:45It may have been how those stories started, but it certainly wasn't how they ended.
00:41:49They didn't take their ideologies too far. Their ideologies either changed or
00:41:53were revealed to be nonsense.
00:41:59The show acts like it actually stuck the landing with their own antagonist when it
00:42:02just didn't. It shows that Brike really thought they achieved something here
00:42:07when all they did was chicken out, and they think you, the viewer, are too stupid
00:42:11to notice that. Some people think you're supposed to engage with the story on its
00:42:16terms, so if it thinks that's what it was about, then we need to treat it like that.
00:42:20But people only ever say that when a story they like is being criticized.
00:42:27Execution is still a crucial aspect of critique, and Korra fumbled the execution hard.
00:42:32Furthermore, can we talk about how weak and philosophically lazy they took it too
00:42:48far is as a villain story? This is peak horseshoe theory. This is just the
00:42:53horseshoe theory. I know Avatar has always been about balance, but that
00:42:57shouldn't be balanced between oppression and no oppression. Virtually all the
00:43:02villains are in some way about tearing down the establishment in varying
00:43:05degrees, so no wonder a lot of people tar this show as being pro-status quo.
00:43:10Some of its defenders think the show was divisive because it was political. No, I
00:43:14think if it was political, as in actually taking a stand on something, it would
00:43:22have been great. But it wasn't. It certainly likes to use political
00:43:27trappings, but that doesn't make it political. It keenly lacks any degree of
00:43:31political literacy. Even having bad politics would have been better. This
00:43:36series has none, and you can't have it like that. If you're going to be
00:43:40political, you need a stance, and if you don't have one, don't be political.
00:43:43Instead, it does this under the idea of making the show appear more mature and
00:43:48dark to a fanbase that's getting older yet still hasn't aged out of battle,
00:43:52Shonen. Hence why the political subtext goes hand-in-hand with the increased
00:43:56gruesomeness of the violence. But the key to maturity is being bold, taking a
00:44:02bold stance, not just in politics but in storytelling as well, and Korra was
00:44:06practically begging for something more meditative and forward-thinking, not to
00:44:10just set and occupy Wall Street banner on fire and then get back to anime
00:44:13fighting. All in all, The Legend of Korra takes Avatar and proceeds to gentrify it.
00:44:19It adds pretty-looking modern cities, it adds nice clean utopian metal-bending
00:44:24parasites, it adds nice clean utopian metal-bending paradises ripped right out
00:44:28of a tech bro CGI bullshit project, it adds plenty of American iconography and
00:44:33proceeds to break and bend the world of Avatar to fit into its mold. Granted
00:44:38Avatar was never all that unique in the first place, the series was rightfully
00:44:41called out for Orientalism in its design, but the solution was to do it better, not
00:44:48proceed to make like Americans, nuke half a country, and then rebuild it into
00:44:51something more closely approximating them. The solution was to let your new
00:44:57cast stretch their legs and find themselves, not bury them under shackle
00:45:00not bury them under shackles, chains, and constant references to the original
00:45:04series. Some people will say, you just don't like it because it wasn't like The
00:45:08Last Airbender, but the reason I don't like this show is because it tries too
00:45:12hard to be The Last Airbender. It says, here's our bold new ideas, now let's throw
00:45:17that away so we can take you on a guided tour of Last Airbender nostalgia.
00:45:24Nostalgia? If Avatar is going to continue, which it clearly wants to, it can't keep
00:45:29doing this. They're, they're already teasing the next Avatar taking place in
00:45:33the modern day, and I gotta say if we don't learn from Korra, dial back the
00:45:37stakes, focus on the characters, and get your ducks in a row before you start
00:45:42blowing up the planet, this is just going to get even worse.
00:45:48And that's Legend of Korra, a show with so much promise and so many interesting new
00:45:52takes on not just Avatar, but traditional adventure stories, practically
00:45:56smothered under the crea- practically smothered under the creator's
00:46:00unwillingness to commit to any of it. Under the fear that if it wasn't just
00:46:04like the original and didn't have enough references to the original, people might
00:46:08stop watching. And that became a self-fulfil- and that became a
00:46:11self-fulfilling prophecy, as its unwillingness to commit caused its
00:46:14ratings to plummet to the point it was moved into the streaming ghetto and
00:46:18languished there. And in a twist of dark- and in a twist of- and in a twist of
00:46:25beautifully dark irony, despite the romance being the most hated part of the
00:46:29show, that's now the only thing it's ever really remembered for. And I find that a
00:46:33shame, because at the very least Korra herself deserved way more than to just
00:46:37languish as a pinup for the Internet's- and I find that a shame, because at the
00:46:42very least Korra herself deserved way more than to just languish as a pinup
00:46:46for the Internet's muscle girl fetish. I'm Lily, thanks for watching.
00:47:00Okay, uh, where were you? Uh, Cosmo Mandy, what were some of your earlier questions?
00:47:06We can- we can cover that stuff now.
00:47:19Looks like you could use some help from the big boss of heaven, so checkin' out
00:47:24his own reviews on Yelp.
00:48:36Hmm.
00:48:57If we get their take on TikTok, I'm not gonna- I'm not gonna watch any of it.
00:49:01Oh, I don't know, I mean, I- I- I'm sure there's something they could do with that.
00:49:11I mean, look, let's be honest, it'd be really fuckin' funny if the new avatar
00:49:15tries doing anything, and then gets wi- and has everything they do wildly
00:49:20misinterpreted in the most bizarre ways on avatar TikTok.
00:49:31Okay, so, unedited with the last section, we're at two and a half hours, so I think
00:49:46a charitable read is going to be two hours and fifteen minutes.
00:49:52All the other kids with the ball-stab kicks, you better run, better run,
00:49:56I'm comin' to run, my God!
00:49:59Moving into Season 3, showing that the Republic is a pack of j-
00:50:02Moving into Season 3, we actually have a very strong start.
00:50:05Harmonic Conver-
00:50:08And what his stake in all of this is.
00:50:103, 9, 18, 10.
00:50:13Double the case, given that Avatar has- Double the case, given that Avatar has
00:50:16dealt with the Avatar- Hu-Ting isn't like Ozai, she doesn't have bending-
00:50:20In the end, once the Earth Queen is murked, it's just several episodes of
00:50:23complete anarchy when the Red Lotus-
00:50:26So the Earth Kingdom was- Okay, there we go.
00:50:29Let's get that other- that last one in here, so I can finally close this shitpost file.
00:50:35...
00:50:43...
00:50:52So the Earth Kingdom was- There we go.
00:50:56Okay.
00:51:00Complaints on the shit with Hama and Jet and that nauseating beach episode
00:51:04I'd be very hard-pressed to call it a masterpiece.
00:51:06Isn't the original song about a school shooting?
00:51:10Well, yeah, but I mean, I compare Zaheer to a school shooter multiple times.
00:51:14...
00:51:19Did you mention the airbender jumper in this script like last video or no?
00:51:22Yes, I did. Not to the same degree, but-
00:51:25...
00:51:33Oh, right, Cosmo Mandy, you're-
00:51:36Well, Cosmo Mandy, since you're still here,
00:51:39I did basically say we could go over some of the questions you had earlier,
00:51:42if you still wanted to.
00:51:45...
00:51:58No, goodbye. Alright, see ya.
00:52:28...
00:52:41...
00:52:48I hope you're having a good day, Lily. I am.
00:52:50Moving into Season 3, we actually have a very strong start.
00:52:53Harmonic Convergence has changed the energy of the world,
00:52:55...
00:53:02...
00:53:06Did we just bully that person? They think they were, uh-
00:53:09Or did they think we were bullying them? I don't know.
00:53:12Uh, no, you don't need to call him a coward.
00:53:14Like, guys, look, I understand we do get an awful lot of, like-
00:53:17...
00:53:22I understand we do get a lot of, like, the stalkers coming in,
00:53:25and just asking- and basically asking leading questions to cause trouble,
00:53:29but I don't think- I don't think that was one of them.
00:53:32...
00:53:35...
00:53:38...
00:53:41...
00:53:44...
00:53:47...
00:53:50...
00:53:53...
00:53:56...
00:53:59...
00:54:02...
00:54:05...
00:54:08...
00:54:11...
00:54:14...
00:54:17However, it's also seeded new airbenders all over the world, which we'll get into more
00:54:29depth at the end.
00:54:30However, it's also seeded new airbenders all over the world.
00:54:36This leads Cora to having a heart-to-heart with a new airbender aunt.
00:54:47I'm actually pretty bad about that too.
00:54:53Yeah, see, that's the thing.
00:54:54The stalkers kind of do that so that you'll be inherently suspicious of people.
00:55:00So you'll just, they basically do it, they'll do, they do it to wear out my patience so
00:55:04that I'll snap at somebody else so that they can then go, look how abusive and horrible
00:55:09Lily is.
00:55:33Like I gave that as the explanation, is the fact that, yeah, I'm often short-tempered
00:55:37with people because people always try, people try and wear out my patience as much as humanly
00:55:42possible.
00:55:44But part of explaining that is trying to, like, move away from doing that.
00:56:00Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:56:28yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:56:57yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:57:26yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
00:57:56yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
00:58:26sorry
00:58:44don't panic I'm just here to talk please I don't know what I'm doing and I don't
00:58:49want to hurt anyone please I don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to hurt
00:58:53anyone tell me about it rough day huh I'm having kind of a rough day myself you
00:58:59mind if I sit down a k3 stream where they were on the toy story section
00:59:05people kept being weird mistakes learned oh fuck my life those k3 streams are
00:59:09always a fucking nightmare collective intelligence the chat would just plummet
00:59:13to the fucking ground and Lulu has to scream at people because I use
00:59:15headphones I got that a full fucking blast sorry noob lord please I don't
00:59:23know what I'm doing
00:59:32please I don't know what I'm doing don't want to hurt anyone tell me about it
00:59:38rough day huh I'm having kind of a rough day myself you mind if I sit down here
00:59:44look I know you're scared you've gone through a big change and it's kind of my
00:59:50fault but you're not alone there are other airbenders and they want to help
00:59:54you actually they're really excited to meet you I don't want to be an airbender
00:59:59please you're the avatar make it stop I'm sorry I can't but I promise you
01:00:07things will get better if you just give it a chance let me take you over to air
01:00:11temple island and we can talk this through okay
01:00:20ah
01:00:29this is Tim's he's going to help you it is absolutely my pleasure to meet you
01:00:36dog I've never met a new airbender before well at least okay this is gonna
01:00:45get it's kind of my fault but you're not alone there are other airbenders and
01:00:55they want to help you actually they're really excited to meet
01:01:01tell me about it having kind of a rough day myself you
01:01:06mind if I sit down here look about it look I know you're scared you've gone
01:01:16through a big change and it's kind of my fault there are other airbenders and
01:01:20they want to help you actually they're really is that JJJ's VA Tenzin yes that
01:01:26is that is J Jonah Jameson there are other airbenders and they want to help
01:01:30you actually they're really excited to meet you I don't want to be an airbender
01:01:34please you're the avatar make it stop oh I'm sorry I can't but I promise you
01:01:42things will you but I promise you things will get better if you just give it a
01:01:49chance let me take you over to air temple island and we can talk this
01:01:53through okay
01:01:56this leads Cora not only getting better this leads Cora not only getting
01:02:13banished from Republic meet great job Raiko but deciding she's going to help
01:02:17the but deciding she's going to help gather new airbend they just threw it
01:02:23away Cora's entire arc isn't not only getting banished from Republic City
01:02:26great job Raiko deciding she's going to help the but deciding she's going to
01:02:31help gather those I suppose from our panel otherwise known as Luke from
01:02:35Star Wars yeah I don't think we needed an otherwise for Mark Hamill rag Raiko
01:02:39but deciding she's going to help gather new airbenders and
01:02:43you
01:02:46okay this a long time how many celebrity VA's are there Azula is great a while
01:02:54Katara is Mae Whitman those eyes Mark Hamill
01:03:14you
01:03:26when a lock is from house
01:03:30oh yeah Iroh was uh Iroh uh how do you pronounce that I know I know I know Mako
01:03:49was named after it was named after him but I've also heard something heard some
01:03:51people pronounce his name is Mako
01:03:59wait like house MD yep that one
01:04:10oh god I just thought of a horrible joke
01:04:22you
01:04:33share it Lily but it's like hey where are the kids oh they're upstairs playing
01:04:38house goes and walks into the kids room and they're playing hospital while one
01:04:42of them is popping tic-tacs
01:04:52you
01:04:57that's a Bonnie ism that's what Bonnie would do wait no sorry that's something
01:05:06Calvin and if Calvin and Hobbes was still being made made today that's what
01:05:11they would do with a toy sword serving as a cane now just a stick
01:05:22you this leads Cora not only getting banished from Republic City great job
01:05:28Raiko but deciding she's going to help gather new airbenders and rebuild the
01:05:31Air Nation now if the season had just been about this because the airbenders
01:05:36end up being a catalyst for a conflict with the Earth Queen later on it would
01:05:39have been interesting it would have been very interesting season it would have
01:05:46been very interesting season one had lowered the stakes from the last
01:05:52airbender season to raise the stakes so high the stakes burned up upon reentry
01:05:56into the atmosphere but this is a great way to lower the stakes again with a
01:05:59more emotional story unfortunately unfortunately the first episode ends
01:06:04with some dangerous criminal getting airbending and declaring that the era of
01:06:07the avatar is about to end for the second time this is the here whose
01:06:12entire this is this is the here whose entire shtick is reading a manifesto
01:06:17written by a 17 year old school shooter whose entire shtick is reading a
01:06:22manifesto written by a 17 year old school shooter I wish I had the money
01:06:31and resources to tell Lily hey want to be a showrunner oh no no I'd be a
01:06:34terrible showrunner I I can't manage people I'm also disorganized as all sin
01:06:44like seriously you guys don't see the file structure I work with
01:06:59for the next few episodes the crew travels around the Earth Kingdom
01:07:01collecting new airbenders while Zaheer runs around getting the gang back
01:07:04together but the time they reach Ba Sing Se it turns out the Earth Queen has
01:07:07captured every airbender in the city and locked them under Lake Laogai to train
01:07:10as a new airbending division of the military in fact the Earth Queen remarks
01:07:14directly to Korra's face that the United Republic is on stolen be a better
01:07:18actress and VA than a showrunner yeah if you're gonna have me on as a lot on a
01:07:22staff like it should be as like a voice actor or a writer those are my those are
01:07:27my skill sets and even then if you're trying to make a battle Shonan I'm
01:07:33probably not the best person to hire a pending division of the military in fact
01:07:36the Earth Queen remarks directly to Korra's face that the United Republic is
01:07:39on stolen Earth Kingdom land so you might be thinking hang on this sounds
01:07:43like a really interesting conflict of the season with the figure with the
01:07:46future of the Air Nation for the season with the with the figure isn't with the
01:07:52future of the Air Nation being at odds with the Earth Queen and her bitterness
01:07:55over the Earth King's stolen land so what the fuck is with the Lincoln Park
01:07:58bending squad well in case you haven't well well in case you haven't noticed
01:08:04after last season with the generational divide conflicts being swept away with
01:08:08being swept away in the name of the adventures of Jesus Dalai Lama Christ
01:08:12being swept away in the name of the adventures of Korra likes to do this
01:08:17cheeky little thing well in case you haven't noticed at this
01:08:23in case you haven't noticed Korra likes to do this cheeky little thing where
01:08:27they lay down the greatest premise you've ever seen and then BAM slap a
01:08:30generic slap a generic Shonan anime on top of it and BAM slap a generic Shonan
01:08:37anime on top of it
01:08:44anime on top of it so while they're searching for the airbenders Lin shows
01:08:47up and says time to be the babysitter again because apparently a fully
01:08:51realized avatar can't take on four mercs the obnoxious the obnoxious part
01:08:55is that they're still talking path the obnoxious part is that they're still
01:08:59talking past Korra and we get our second retcon as to why Korra was locked away
01:09:03in the compound as to why Korra was locked away in the compound the Red
01:09:07Lotus the Red Lotus tried to capture her when she was a kid but were stopped by
01:09:11Tenzin, Tanra, Zuko, and Sokka. Each season the show tries to browbeat it
01:09:16into Korra. Really good idea look at all these post hoc excuses I keep making for
01:09:20it so Lin wants to get Korra, but Korra refuses to leave without the airbender
01:09:26so they break them out of prison and congratulations for paying attention this
01:09:30long and congratulations and congratulations for paying attention
01:09:33this long because this is the last time the Earth Queen is relevant to the plot
01:09:42the story focuses primarily on the airbenders for the next few episodes now
01:09:46in the past I was down on the whole harmonic convergence creates new
01:09:49airbenders thing I feel it's weird to just a magically undo genocide but
01:09:53further than that if you wanted to create new airbenders you could you
01:09:56already have the air acolytes and an avatar who just look you could and an
01:10:01avatar who just do genocide but further than that if you wanted to create new
01:10:08airbenders you already have the air acolytes and an avatar and an avatar who
01:10:18just learned energy venting but honestly I can't but honestly I can get over it
01:10:25considering how good Tenzin is here is get over it considering how good Tenzin
01:10:29is here Tenzin is delighted to learn about new airbenders to the point he's
01:10:33brought to tears over getting to do something his father dreamed of it's a
01:10:36genuinely heartfelt moment for Tenzin and I like that but doing it this way
01:10:40reveals cracks in the air nomad culture the air nomads were so in tune with
01:10:44their spiritual side that every air gnome the air nomads were so in tune with
01:10:48their spiritual side that every air nomad was an airbender there were no
01:10:51non benders in the air nomads well there are now well there are now well but
01:10:59there are now the air acolytes are non benders who the air acolytes are non
01:11:08benders who are part of the air nation but for some reason they weird but for
01:11:12some reason they're always weirdly discounted
01:11:20let's give you the resources to make what you want I don't care what you make
01:11:24but make it something you can be proud of but fair enough you mean an
01:11:29adaptation of manhouse I'd be really interested in what you do if you had the
01:11:33resources because you have tons of good ideas I might have good ideas but I
01:11:36don't have the skill look yeah I'm not I'm not cut out to be a showrunner like
01:11:48people go to college and have to have years of experience to be a showrunner
01:11:52like showrunner like famous showrunners they worked on crew on just as like
01:11:58members of individual crews for years before they became a showrunner I can't
01:12:02you can't just jump right to the top of that you'd be a disservice to anything I
01:12:06tried to make like if you gave me the resources the first thing I would do is
01:12:11hire a showrunner
01:12:28that's why Lily only does shadow writing fanfics and video essays yeah I do what
01:12:32I I I have always been a one-woman operation in everything like everything
01:12:38I do well sorry not one woman operation two woman operation making my videos
01:12:44like outside of like McKay doing the doing art for me I'm a one-woman
01:12:47operation making madhouse it was me and McKay all these new indie shows make
01:12:56people think it's easy yeah but for some reason they're always weird
01:13:02discounted it's all it's only the arrival of new airbenders that sparks
01:13:07the rebirth of the Air Nation as opposed to a boon for a nation that already
01:13:12existed
01:13:24rival of new airbenders that sparks the rebirth of the Air Nation as opposed to
01:13:29a boon for a nation that already existed as opposed to a boon for a
01:13:32nation that already existed and was grown from the start of the show but the
01:13:40Air Nation as opposed to a granted this was always a running undercurrent for
01:13:43the Air Nomad granted this was always a running undercurrent no that's always a
01:13:49running undercurrent for the Air Nomads one of one of the reasons the Air Nomads
01:13:54traveled all over the world is to be of help to everyone which says something
01:13:57about how the Air Nomads viewed other cultures as needing their help in the
01:14:01first place in a world oriented around bending being it's a cool thing you two
01:14:05did and I started rereading it lately oh yeah thanks I find that the the really
01:14:10early chapters really just they don't they don't hold up but I've been
01:14:13planning to go back and I had for a while I'm planning to go back and update
01:14:16those but that's like that's just kind of what happens when you spend three
01:14:20years working on something I'm not gonna jump into showrunning for a massive
01:14:26animated series at best and at best an animator will animate Lily and Michaela's
01:14:30work with only Lily's consent yeah that's always been kind of the yeah
01:14:35that's that's kind of the important part to remember guys like if I wanted to be
01:14:40like a published author I'd be one already people basically try to hold
01:14:45that against me like you know there's a reason you're not a published author but
01:14:48like the reason is I don't want to be
01:14:56like I do ghostwriting and I've done I've done ghostwriting for a lot of
01:15:00different things but one of the caveats is that I go uncredited I don't want I
01:15:04don't want my I don't want people finding me through this stuff I greatly
01:15:12admire Bill Watterson in terms of just disappearing and never being seen again
01:15:26you
01:15:56you
01:16:17be an animator and ask for Lily's graces and do short animated Lily skits like
01:16:22how Jaden started off in fact it could start your career that's assuming any of
01:16:26y'all are actual animators I'm not sure how I'd feel about that people would
01:16:29accuse me of exploiting people
01:16:40place in a world oriented around bending being the sole nation to have a hundred
01:16:45percent of its members be being being the sole nation to have a hundred percent
01:16:49of its members be benders would certainly influence how they interact
01:16:52with the rest of the world this is all stuff that required the air nomads have
01:16:57always been kind of arrogant all stuff that required here nomads have always
01:17:02been the arrogance viewing them viewing themselves as above the world and its
01:17:12problems it's all stuff that requires you to read between the lines I was
01:17:15hoping the core would address that there might be enough to fill the
01:17:22there's our our family we might have to get used to not being the only air
01:17:29benders around anymore I hope we have enough for an army I want to be a
01:17:35commander like uncle boo me there are no mods don't have armies Nilo but maybe
01:17:40there will be enough to fill the temples again what's wrong daddy I just wish
01:17:45your grandfather were here to see this
01:17:49that's that but maybe there will be enough fill the temples again I just
01:17:55wish your grandfather were here to fill the temples again there might be oh the
01:18:04temples are full you were there just last season you saw air nomads living
01:18:09just last season you saw air nomads living there but they aren't but last
01:18:17are full you were
01:18:40you
01:18:53children the world is filled with more air benders we're not in sorry I thought
01:18:58you were the servants where's Henson's brother and sister avatar Aang had other
01:19:05excuse me a little help here sorry I thought you were the servants where's
01:19:12Henson's brother and sister avatar Aang had other children the world is filled
01:19:17with more air benders we're not air benders oh I'm so sorry
01:19:36full you were there just last season you saw the air nomads living there but
01:19:42they are but they aren't benders so they just don't but they aren't benders so
01:19:48they just don't count
01:20:01excuse me a little help here sorry I thought you were the servants where's
01:20:07Henson's brother and sister avatar Aang had other children the world is filled
01:20:12with more air benders we're not air benders oh I'm so sorry
01:20:29don't count excuse me a little help here sorry I thought you were the servants
01:20:35where's Henson's brother and sister avatar Aang had other children the world
01:20:40is filled with more air benders we're not air benders oh I'm so sorry
01:20:47despite giving and despite giving their entire lives to the engine they're just
01:20:52a lesser class of people if only we hadn't swept the whole benders versus
01:20:56non benders thing under the rug imagine that huh
01:21:01the world is other and sister avatar 3x7 1415
01:21:13it's another weird but they aren't benders so they just don't count failed
01:21:31who me quit and the rest of the year I remember when I moved out of my parents
01:21:36house to become an air acolyte that first night I was so scared and people
01:21:41can airbend it doesn't automatically make them air nomads tell me about it
01:21:56in that huh you know just because these people can airbend it doesn't
01:22:00automatically make them air nomads tell me about it the part of the season where
01:22:08the Air Nation is actually trained to deal once again with Tenzin is
01:22:12inadequacies and being outclassed as an airbender by his daughter Tenzin seems
01:22:16to be struggling with the fact that while he can be a great teacher he's not
01:22:20the greatest airbender in the world something he had to deal with last
01:22:22season as well and Tenzin is used to training his children who were born and
01:22:26raised air nomads his new batch of recruits are all adults and teenagers
01:22:30who balk at the idea of having to work hard at something and want to be good at
01:22:33it right away we're also introduced to Zaofu a city
01:22:36devoted entirely to metalbending led by Suyin Beifong this introduced the
01:22:41second act B of Lin and Suyin's dysfunctional relationship in case you
01:22:47haven't noticed the second act B plot of Lin and Suyin's dysfunctional
01:22:52relationship
01:23:01plot of Lin and Suyin's dysfunctional relationship in case you haven't noticed
01:23:05the A and B plot changes during in case you haven't noticed the the one scene
01:23:10I'd like to highlight as especially good is a very quiet B plot changes during
01:23:13the season more so than any of the others like to highlight as especially
01:23:19good is a very quiet scene where Korra gives Opal Beifong introductory
01:23:22airbending lessons not only is it a show of how far Korra has come a moment that
01:23:26is sadly rare in the series but the gentle movements coupled with the flute
01:23:30music god damn
01:24:01you really think so
01:24:08why don't you try it with me
01:24:20Wow you're a natural you really think so thanks
01:24:30airbending dance if I had never seen this show
01:25:00god damn if I had never seen this show and you showed me this scene and said
01:25:04they were setting up Korra and Opal I believe you but she actually shows
01:25:07attraction to Bolin shows attraction to Bolin which is good Opal has good taste
01:25:15Suyin as a character is in Suyin as a character is interesting
01:25:20very gentle with people very opinionated but otherwise completely
01:25:24non-committal Zhaofu at times feels like a hippie commune and Suyin
01:25:28will accept fugitives from other nations which means Beric is here hiding
01:25:32from the United Republic and trying to build a hyperloop the reason she's in
01:25:39Zhaofu at all is because as a child she got is because at reason she's in
01:25:44Zhaofu at all is because as a child she got arrested and
01:25:52Toph sent her away to keep the reason she's in Zhaofu at all is
01:25:59because as a child she got arrested and Toph sent her away to keep her daughter
01:26:03from going to prison Suyin getting away with no consequences and scarring Lin in
01:26:07the process has been the reason Lin has avoided her entire family and while in
01:26:10Zhaofu it starts eating away at her until she ends up in a physical
01:26:13altercation with her sister 3x6 1613 huh I'm getting this weird sense of
01:26:18deja vu
01:26:48and work things out if you had gotten together with us like we'd asked you
01:26:52would know that I'm a different person now I've been a different person for a
01:26:55long time you think just because you live in a big fancy house and have a
01:26:59chef who cooks you fancy food that you're a different person maybe you can
01:27:03fool everyone else but you can't fool me I see right through you you know what
01:27:08Lin you're the one who hasn't changed you're still a bitter loner who only
01:27:12cares about herself
01:27:19mom and I already talked about this years ago and worked out if you had
01:27:25gotten together like we'd asked you would know that I'm a different person
01:27:29now I've been a different person now you think just because you live in a big
01:27:36fancy house and have a chef who cooks you fancy food that you're a different
01:27:40person I see right through you maybe you can fool everyone else but you can't
01:27:47fool me I you know what Lin you know what Lin you know what Lin you're the
01:27:56one who hasn't changed you're still a bitter loner who only cares about
01:27:59herself
01:28:13do channel points do anything on the streamer side not really bits do but
01:28:17channel points don't getting this weird sense of deja vu
01:28:28but herself huh I'm getting this weird sense of deja vu then Lin passes out for
01:28:35a full day
01:28:47for a full day and she and sue patch things up and opal gets to go with the
01:28:50avatar to the northern air temple anyway I hope you like that subplot cuz it's
01:28:53over now because that night the red lotus shows up anyway I hope you like
01:28:56that anyway I hope you an air temple anyway I hope you like that subplot
01:29:00cuz it subplot because it's over now because that night the red lotus shows
01:29:05up drugs Cora and tries to kidnap her and starts a full trench warfare fight
01:29:08in the middle of Zaufu to its credit this fight is actually interesting as
01:29:14cuz Cora was out of commission the entire fight it doesn't feel like she's
01:29:18been murked avatar unawares is a lot more interesting than just minister and
01:29:22rags knock it off this leads to a manhunt where everyone is trying to pick
01:29:26up kidnap her and starts a full trench warfare fight in the middle of Zaufu
01:29:30this leads to a manhunt where everyone is trying to figure out how the red
01:29:33lotus got into Zaufu where the lead characters flail around while Mako and
01:29:37this one Zaufu guard do all the real work this leads to a man this leads to a
01:29:42manhunt leads to a manhunt where everyone huh what oh no that that was
01:29:48from when I was oh what's the recording yeah that was a recording from earlier
01:29:55this leads to a manhunt where everyone is trying to figure out how the red
01:29:59lotus got into Zaufu where the lead characters flail around while Mako and
01:30:02this one Zaufu guard do the real work all this leads to 38 2103 all this leads
01:30:08to
01:30:15we will find out those answer I'm taking you back to Republic City where I can
01:30:23protect you if I wasn't safe here then I'm not safe anywhere I have to I'm
01:30:27taking you back to Republic City where there could be other secret agents in
01:30:31other parts of the world looking for you right now I'm taking you back to Republic
01:30:34City where I can protect you if I wasn't safe here then I'm not safe
01:30:37anywhere I have to stop them it's too dangerous you are not going stop trying
01:30:42to protect me I'm the Avatar this is my job
01:30:55great agents and other parts of the world looking for you right now if I
01:30:59wasn't safe here then I'm not safe anywhere I have to stop them it's too
01:31:03dangerous you are not going stop trying to protect me I'm the Avatar this is my
01:31:07job 38 2103 stop trying to protect me I'm the Avatar this is my job as
01:31:17irritating as the babysitters club is I'm glad Cora I'm glad that Cora's just
01:31:22not babysitters club is I'm glad Cora I'm glad that Cora's and I'm glad that
01:31:27Cora's just not having that shit anymore the crew ultimately leads to go find the
01:31:32traitor a truth seer named Ai Wei the crew ultimately leads to go find the
01:31:40traitor a truth seer named Ai Wei which leads to Cora going into the spirit
01:31:43world where she finally gets to see Zaheer face-to-face and so we finally
01:31:46get to hear what Zaheer has to say and so we finally get to hear what Zaheer
01:31:50has to say and what his stake in all this is 3 9 18 10
01:31:56and what is your mission exactly I want what you want to restore balance to this
01:32:05world I don't think our ideas of balance are the same are you sure about that you
01:32:10kept the spirit portals open but why stop there bringing the spirits back
01:32:15should only be the beginning what do you mean the idea of having nations and
01:32:20governments is as foolish as keeping the human and spirit realms separate you've
01:32:25had to deal with a moronic president in a tyrannical Queen don't you think the
01:32:30world would be better off if leaders like them were eliminated
01:32:44we're eliminated 3 9 he wants to tear down all world governments plunge the
01:32:52world into chaos and true freedom and return humanity to the spirits I gotta
01:32:57say break after two seasons where you take an interesting philosophy and water
01:33:00it he wants to tear down all world governments plunge the world don't you
01:33:05think the world he wants to tear down all world governments plunge the world
01:33:08into chaos and true freedom and return humanity to the spirits I gotta say
01:33:12break after two seasons where you take an interesting philosophy and water it
01:33:15down to something simple and stupid it's nice to see you actually working with
01:33:17something on your level for once anarchism is the lack anarchism is the
01:33:21laughingstock of the philosophical world been oh there have been plenty of
01:33:25noteworthy anarchist thinker oh there have been plenty of noteworthy anarchist
01:33:29thinkers who have managed to collectively achieve jack-fucking-and-shit
01:33:32I mean communism managed to establish itself in several nations at least
01:33:38granted you'll rarely ever meet an anarchist thinker in real life it's
01:33:42usually anarcho-capitalism anarcho-communism or anarcho-syndicalism
01:33:45which is to anarchism what an aluminum Christmas tree is to a forest which is
01:33:51to anarchism what an aluminum Christmas tree is to a forest see a rag so here
01:33:59does wax poetic about freedom a lot does wax poetic about freedom a lot but it's
01:34:03true perch but it's true purpose is pretty sick about freedom a lot but it
01:34:09but it's true purpose is pretty simple the Earth Queen has been established as
01:34:13a tyrant and he exists the Earth Queen has been established as a tyrant and he
01:34:17exists for no other reason than to Merc the Earth Queen which kind of sucks
01:34:23because if you wanted someone to Merc the Earth Queen there's already a
01:34:25character who is more than capable of doing that and who already has had
01:34:28personal dealings with the Earth Queen to the point she's driving them crazy so
01:34:34they're both capable and willing so they're both capable and willing to do
01:34:38so it's a little side character it's a little side character in the show that
01:34:47most people don't quite remember her name is avatar Cora
01:35:09topiaries and then you just want to send me away we're not going anywhere until
01:35:14we find some airbenders we know there are some here get her out of my sight
01:35:22over I'm gonna find the air we're not going Alice's and topiaries oh it's a
01:35:31little side character in the show that most people don't quite remember her
01:35:34name is avatar Cora remember her name is avatar Cora remember her name is
01:35:44avatar Cora a character who has previously not been opposed to
01:35:50extrajudicial murder
01:36:05Oh Unalaq better keep talking
01:36:11not been opposed to extrajudicial murder
01:36:16given a character who has previously not been opposed to extrajudicial murder
01:36:21the character given how much of course arcs as a character is about her
01:36:25impulsivity and how often she acts without thinking and isn't prepared for
01:36:28the consequences Cora being the one to kill the Earth Queen and throw the Earth
01:36:31Kingdom into chaos after thinking she was doing everyone a favor would be
01:36:35beautiful it even leads into her self-imposed exile in the final season
01:36:40and leads into herself ooh back spasm right on mic don't like that it even
01:36:48leads into her self-imposed exile now I know what it sounds like to other people
01:36:51no wonder everyone's always so worried about me
01:37:02you
01:37:12would be beautiful it even leads into her self-imposed exile in the final
01:37:16season a hell of a lot better than the current canon where she was off her
01:37:19groove after being turned into a brown and blue pinball we get into season 4
01:37:23and everyone's like Cora you have to stop the evil tyrant and she's like I
01:37:26already did that and I made everything worse this is double the case given that
01:37:29the avatar has dealt with the avatars birth this is double the case this is
01:37:33double the case the case given that avatar has dealt with the avatars
01:37:37refusal to stop a problem this is double the case given that
01:37:40avatars refusal to stop a problem world leader before he happens this is double
01:37:48the case given that avatar has dealt with the pro this is double the case
01:37:52given this is double the case happens this is double the case given that
01:37:59avatar has dealt with the avatars refusal to this is double his refusal
01:38:05to stop a problem worldly before he happens and who ting isn't like Oza and
01:38:09who ting isn't like Ozai she doesn't have bending to take away her people is
01:38:14systemic and as we've seen the Dai Li is the real power in the Earth Kingdom the
01:38:18Queen doesn't really matter I just came up with that on this I just came up with
01:38:24that on the spot I know you're probably really the hero's not supposed to kill
01:38:27people yeah let's tell a story about why that is oh but no we need to drag
01:38:35around Zaheer well so oh but no we need to drag around Zaheer he rants to his
01:38:40mother about how he's not going to tidy his room it's interesting just how
01:38:46superfluous
01:38:49I'm backstreet levels of back no don't do that
01:39:19great now you got that stuck on my fucking head
01:39:49how's the core video going well or in the final stretch or at least for the
01:40:05audio room it's interesting just how superfluous I it's interesting just how
01:40:11superfluous interesting just how super interesting just how superfluous Zaheer
01:40:17is to the story the fandom seems to think he's a great antagonist the most
01:40:21the fandom to think he's the fandom seems to think he's the greatest
01:40:25antagonist the show had because he suffocated a woman and I guess that's
01:40:29badass or something but season but season one had multiple bloodbenders
01:40:36bloodbending outside the full moon and bloodbending is like the coolest
01:40:40technique in avatar so like step up your games Zaheer you're right next to a
01:40:44lava bender the world's hottest fire bender and a master water bender who
01:40:48water bends with no arms even Unalaq post lobotomy and Kuvira had more
01:40:52on-screen presence than you do then again all those characters were good
01:40:56characters before the story snapped itself in two to fill in into existence
01:41:00while you are boring right from the start so we don't even have a better
01:41:03version of Zaheer to so we don't even have a better version of Zaheer to work
01:41:06with because the better version of Zaheer is Korra in the end once the
01:41:12Earth Queen is murked it's just several episodes of the Red Lotus using
01:41:15blackmail blackmail in the end once the Earth Queen is and once the end once
01:41:24the Earth Queen is murked it's just several episodes of the Red Lotus using
01:41:29blackmail and the threat of another Air Nation genocide to capture Korra and
01:41:33torture her into the avatar state so they can kill her there and end the
01:41:36avatar for good a task they ultimately fail at due to day it a task they
01:41:39ultimately fail at due to deus ex genoa all of which is done through multiple
01:41:49overly long bending fights that sees Pali, Mingwa, and Ghazan all die while
01:41:54Zaheer is taken in alive none of it is particularly noteworthy unless seeing
01:41:58someone get electrocuted none of it is particularly noteworthy unless seeing
01:42:02someone get electrocuted to death makes you excited and without a real story to
01:42:05tell the actual fighting is just fighting it may as well be an episode
01:42:09of death battle it may as well be an episode of death battle going back over
01:42:15season 3 it's probably the messiest it takes a very long time in and going back
01:42:23over season 3 it's probably the messiest it takes a very long time for the main
01:42:27antagonist to show their faces and do anything and once they and once they do
01:42:31it's one speech about get out of my room mom and then red decide and the
01:42:35season keeps swapping out new plot lines every few episodes and then has
01:42:38and then has two very loads and loads and then has to very loosely tie them
01:42:45all together it seems like break thought well nobody liked our social revolution
01:42:50villain so we'll just go back so we'll go so we'll go back to just bend can
01:42:54villain so can villain so so we'll just go and so we'll go back to just bending
01:43:01fights but the problem with the first two seasons is you had interesting ideas
01:43:05but the problem with interesting ideas and then threw them away so you could
01:43:09go right back to anime fighting and season 3 is just the anime fighting
01:43:15fighting and season 3 is just the anime fighting this isn't an improvement it's
01:43:24just the boring latter halves of the season with actual this isn't an
01:43:28improvement it's just it's just the boring latter halves of the season with
01:43:32actual promise I maintain what I said the whole season would be better if it
01:43:37was just about the new Air Nation and them crossing paths with the Earth Queen
01:43:40ending with Cora getting fed up with who tings bullshit and killing her herself I
01:43:45remember the Red Lotus being more of a presence with plenty of weird dipshit
01:43:49anarchist rants to the point that my to the point that my previous video had me
01:43:53bring up power vacuums multiple times the power back bring up the point of
01:44:00power vacuums multiple times times but no it really is just one or two and
01:44:07that's about it they are they are a non presence throughout the season until
01:44:11it's time for a fight scene they're like Team Rocket by way of Zack Snyder
01:44:21they aren't characters they're just boss fights
01:44:24Ozai had more Ozai had more character than the Red Lotus fucking Zhao had more
01:44:29character than the Red Lotus Ozai had more character than the Red Lotus
01:44:33fucking Zhao had more character than the Red Lotus
01:44:42Zhao had more character than the Red Lotus it seems the Red Lotus appeal
01:44:46among the fan base lies entirely in the fact that season three is the most
01:44:49violent season characters get suffocated to death
01:44:52Cora's torture porn scenes are even more torture porn than before
01:44:55Ming-Hua dies of electrocution on screen a character commits suicide on screen
01:45:02someone's head gets exploded
01:45:0616 and becomes breakfast
01:45:14fucking those are no words
01:45:24ming-hua dies of electrocution on screen
01:45:30a character commits suicide on screen someone's head gets exploded
01:45:35gets beaten up so badly she ends the season in a fucking wheelchair? This season's a bloodbath.
01:45:41Which does answer my question, when animation fandom talks about things getting more mature
01:45:45or serious, it's usually getting closer to a level from Doom. I think of the whole...
01:45:52Zaheer is the distillation of what avatar...
01:45:56is the distillation of what avatar fandom thinks a good villain is.
01:45:59Talks a lot of philosophy, but in such a way that the main characters might not want to animate.
01:46:09Talks a lot of philosophy, talks a lot of full...
01:46:14Not in such a way that means the main characters might want to animate fight their way out of it.
01:46:18Unaloq written properly would have been one of the best antagonists the franchise ever had,
01:46:25but he also would have been boring in their eyes because when do things go boom?
01:46:30All in all, Zaheer is just blowing a lot of hot air.
01:46:50All in all, Zaheer is just blowing a lot of hot air.
01:46:59so the Earth Kingdom was thrown into completely
01:47:12SpongeBob laughing on the up next screen as someone is being murdered I don't
01:47:16have clip I don't have footage of that I don't have high-quality footage of that
01:47:29I don't have high-quality footage of that I don't have high-quality footage of that
01:48:00Oh
01:48:20Well Wren just sent me something funny
01:48:25these samurai kill people
01:48:29They slashed them.
01:48:54Oh, Ren, you are such a delight.
01:49:13Ugh, my eyes are sore.
01:49:24Alright, I gotta put an update on Patreon for this stuff.
01:49:54Alright, I gotta put an update on Patreon for this stuff.
01:50:24Alright, I gotta put an update on Patreon for this stuff.
01:50:31I did not expect...
01:50:33Man, I really was hoping this video would just be like an hour long, but my god, this is...
01:50:38This is a mega video essay.
01:50:54How long was the original video? I swear it was an hour and change or more.
01:51:12The original video was an hour and a half.
01:51:15This looks like it's going to be longer than it by about 40 minutes.
01:51:46Hmm.
01:51:56Your critical style has changed a lot since your OG video. Oh yeah.
01:51:59And by that I mean, you mean, it's better.
01:52:03Actually, fuck, this is going to be longer than the Steven Universe video.
01:52:08Not as long as the Pokemon video though, but then again the Pokemon video did cover 20 years of video game.
01:52:38Oh yeah.
01:52:43Oh yeah.
01:52:48Oh yeah.
01:52:53Oh yeah.
01:52:58Oh yeah.
01:53:03Oh yeah.
01:53:08Oh yeah.
01:53:11Oh yeah.
01:53:16Oh yeah.
01:53:21Oh yeah.
01:53:26Oh yeah.
01:53:31Oh yeah.
01:53:36Oh yeah.
01:53:41Oh yeah.
01:53:46Oh yeah.
01:53:51Oh yeah.
01:53:56Oh yeah.

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