The Legend of Korra - Book IV: Balance

Three years have passed since Avatar Korra defeated Zaheer and the Red Lotus, but in the process sustained terrible injuries to both her body and spirit. The world has moved on in the interim, with a general named Kuvira having united much of the Earth Kingdom which fell into civil war upon the death of the previous Earth Queen. When the new Earth King claims his throne, Kuvira rejects him and declares herself the ruler of a new Earth Empire...with its sights firmly set on Republic City.

The third season of The Legend of Korra was a welcome return to form after the disappointing and messy second. It did end with an extremely brutal confrontation between the Red Lotus and Korra, one which it felt like couldn't be brushed under the carpet so her heroes could immediately get into fresh adventures, and it's therefore a relief that Season 4 devotes its opening episodes to showing the passing of time, confirming that Korra has been struggling to recover from her experiences and that the world hasn't been sitting around waiting for the Avatar to return.

Season 4's drama centres firmly on Kuvira, the "Great Uniter" who has restored peace to the Earth Kingdom have years of internal conflict brought about when the Red Lotus killed the Earth Queen in Season 3. Kuvira is understandably annoyed at having to hand power over to the Queen's nephew, a vain and arrogant fop, purely on the grounds of his bloodline and, apparently supported by most of the Earth Kingdom's population, declares herself its new ruler. The show could have presented an more interesting moral dilemma by showing Kuvira as trying to be a more responsible ruler only to fall into the traps of authoritarianism and despotism more gradually, but the opening episode confirms that she is prepared to use brutal techniques in the pursuit of her own personal power, so this kind of nuance is lost. Going in the opposite direction does mean that it's less plausible that she would be supported by Bolin and Varrick, who spend several episodes in her camp before recognising her true colours.

The show also demonstrates how the good guys have become a much more capable force even in Korra's absence: Asami has rescued her company and developed lots of exciting new technology and gadgets and the new Airbenders have become a strong factor in restoring balance to the world. Their efficiency makes Korra feel even more redundant, leading to her going AWOL and joining the underground pro-bending cage fight scene. Early episodes feature Korra feeling sorry for herself before pulling herself together to confront the new threat, but the show is surprisingly realistic in addressing Korra's PTSD and show that the recovery process is long, gruelling and prone to reversals even after positive steps are taken.

The final season of Korra only features 12 episodes - a 13th is a flashback episode mandated by a hefty budget cut late in development - and perhaps doesn't quite have enough time to do these ideas justice. The return appearance of Avatar fan favourite Toph (and her first meeting with her spiritual descendant in the new series, a now-older Meelo) is very welcome and the further development of new magical forms like lavabending is cool, but it feels like the season is trying to do a bit more than it can pull off in the time available, especially when an utterly gigantic war-mecha rather out of keeping with anything we've seen previously in the show turns up without any warning.

Still, if the final season of The Legend of Korra does try to do much, it at least keeps the show busy and moving at a very fast clip. As it stands, the final season is highly entertaining but also features a surprisingly mature look at adult issues like stress, breakdowns and recovery. Action-packed and well-written, the final season of The Legend of Korra (****) ends the show and the entire franchise (at least for now) in fine form. The season is available now as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA) and on Amazon Prime worldwide.

The Legend of Korra - Book III: Change

The Harmonic Convergence has resulted in unforeseen consequences, including the return of airbending to the world. Korra, after a public falling-out with the President of the United Republic due to her decision to allow spirits to enter the physical world, teams up with Tenzin to recruit the new airbenders to help restart the Air Nomad Nation. Unbeknown to Korra, a criminal named Zaheer has gained the power of airbending and seeks to reunite his old gang of elite benders, the Red Lotus, to renew their quest to find and eliminate the Avatar...permanently.

The second season of The Legend of Korra was a major disappointment, the first letdown provided by the five seasons (at that point) of the combined Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra franchise. The third season of Korra has a lot riding on it: is the rot permanent or could the show recover?

Fortunately, the latter is the case. The third season of The Legend of Korra drops a lot of the more spiritual and nebulous elements of the previous show in favour of a much firmer story. A charismatic enemy, voiced by Henry Rollins, assembles a notable "anti-Team Avatar" to take down Korra. The spine of the season is Korra taking the fight to Zaheer and working out what his motivations are. These motivations are complex and less concerned with power than freedom, verging on anarchy. The bad guys are thus presented as having somewhat understandable motivations, but are over-zealous in their application. These ideas are sophisticated for a kids' show but presented well. It's particularly interesting to see the scale of the struggle and the price of victory.

There's also a lot of excellent subplots, such as the recruitment of the new airbending recruits and Tenzin's difficulties in establishing himself as a leader, and the introduction of Lin's family and the city of Zaofu. We learn more about metalbending and the new art of lavabending as well.

The Legend of Korra's third season (****½) is the show getting its mojo back and becoming compelling viewing, the finest season of the show overall. The season is available now as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA) and on Amazon Prime worldwide.

The Legend of Korra - Book II: Spirits

Korra, the new Avatar, has saved Republic City from the evil Amon. A new problem arises when dark spirits start attacking ships belonging to the Southern Water Tribe and Unalaq, the leader of the Northern Water Tribe, declares that the south has lost its spiritual identity. When the Northern Tribe annexes the south, Korra is placed in a difficult situation.

The three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender constitute one of the finest epic fantasy narratives of all time, and the first season of The Legend of Korra was a fine spin-off which went in a different direction with story and atmosphere whilst remaining part of the same world. The second season of Korra delves into more familiar Avatar material, such as the Water Tribes, the Spirit World and the Great Library, as well as establishing more backstory and lore. It's also, unfortunately, a messy and unfocused season which gets very silly at times.

Things start promisingly with the split in the Water Tribes risking civil war, with Korra's parents caught up in the conflict. This gives us recognisable stakes and an emotional connection to the storyline. However, Unalaq is too obviously a villain and Korra's decision to trust him even after he invades the Southern Tribe is implausible. It also doesn't help that in character and even design, Unalaq almost confusingly resembles the similar character of Tarrlok from Season 1.

The story then shifts from a political struggle to more of a spiritual one, as we learn that the Avatar was created by the merging of the a human with a "spirit of light" ten thousand years ago, and Unalaq plans to release a corresponding "spirit of dark" from its prison and become a "dark Avatar." There's some potential in this storyline but it's not really realised very well. A flashback episode to the creation of the first Avatar is well-realised, with a different art style to the rest of the series, but there are major lore contradictions to the established backstory (remarkable enough that even Avatar uber-fan and occasional voice actor Serena Williams complained about it). The visual design of the two spirits - as sort of flapping things that look like flags or something - is also fairly risible. At the end of the season there's a huge battle between the two Avatars which I think is trying to be a homage to Japanese anime tropes but instead looks ridiculous. The ending also doesn't really make much sense (given that the spirit of light is reborn out of the darkness five minutes after its apprent defeat, it's unclear how defeating the spirit of dark doesn't cause the same thing to happen to it).

There's also the odd decision to make the inhabitants of the Spirit World look like fluffy cuddly Pokemon and have them flip from being good or evil based on who's in the vicinity, which again feels out of keeping with Avatar, which established the spirits as being much more vague and mysterious. This season over-explains the Spirit World to the point where it loses any ambiguity and thus becomes less interesting.

Elsewhere things are better. Bolin has an amusing relationship with the psychopathic Eska (magnificently voiced by Aubrey Plaza) and new character Varrick, an eccentric billionaire industrialist, is entertaining. Tenzin's children get more to do, particularly Jinora, and the introduction of Tenzin's siblings Bumi and Kya allows the writers to explore some interesting family drama and dynamics. Something Korra does very well is show that our heroes from Avatar continued to have interesting lives after defeating the Fire Lord, sometimes with major downs and reversals, but ultimately coming through. In the middle of an otherwise weak season, it is a reminder that there are more interesting stories in this world that could be explored.

The second season of The Legend of Korra (***) is watchable with some solid character development and good subplots, but in terms of structurally and pacing it's a mess, and the main story is confusing, contradictory and grandiose but without much depth. Easily the weakest season of the Avatar/Korra franchise, things thankfully improve markedly in the following season. The season is available now as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA) and on Amazon Prime worldwide.

The Legend of Korra - Book I: Air

The Hundred Year War ended when Avatar Aang defeated the Fire Lord Ozai and brought peace to the Four Nations. Aang and Katara's son, Zuko, founded the United Republic of Nations where people from all over the world could live together in peace. Its capital, Republic City, became a beacon of hope and integration for all of humanity.

Seventy years on from the end of the war, Korra, the new Avatar, arrives in Republic City to begin learning the art of airbending from Tenzin, Aang and Katara's son. Born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe, Korra is initially overwhelmed by the bright lights and perceived glamour of the city. But there are inequalities and simmering tensions in the city, stoked by the enigmatic Amon who desires a world where magic-benders no longer exist. When he reveals that he has the power to strip a person's abilities from them, he becomes the biggest threat the city has ever seen...a threat that only the Avatar can defeat.

The Legend of Korra is the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, arguably the greatest slice of western animation of the past twenty years. The task of crafting a sequel to such a beloved show was daunting, but the producers have risen to the occasion by doing the only thing they could: take the sequel in a very different direction from the original series.

Whilst Avatar was more of a traditional adventure story featuring Aang and his adventures travelling from place to place, Korra is much more locked into the location of Republic City. Heavily influenced by both New York and Shanghai in the 1920s, Republic City takes influences from history, retrofuturism and steampunk. It's a towering collection of skyscrapers, sporting arenas, industrial parks and cars (sorry, 'Satomobiles') where fortunes can be made and lost overnight. It's clearly the same world as seen in Avatar, but the technology we saw beginning to develop in that series (such as airships and steam vessels) has moved forwards dramatically. The show makes use of these stylings in various ways, from the 1920s-influenced soundtrack to the cinema news reel which plays at the start of each episode and acts as a recap of the story so far.  Moving away from the setting of the original series was a clever idea and provides not just a great backdrop for the new series, but also (via flashback) brief opportunities to see the later adventures of Aang and his friends as they built up this society from scratch.

The setting is beautifully-depicted, but characterisation is a more mixed bag. Korra is a sympathetic and winning heroine, even if she does settle into the 'brash and headstrong teenager' trope a little too easily. Mako and Bolin, the pro-bending brothers who become Korra's key allies, are more standard archetypes: the square-jawed hero and his wise-cracking sidekick. The non-bending member of the 'new Team Avatar', Asami Sato, may be the most interesting character of the bunch but she gets relatively little development compared to the others. The supporting cast is better-handled. Tenzin is a stoic, serious man clearly overburdened by the weight of his late father's expectations but who opens up a little to Korra. His kids are played for comic relief, but provide quite a few excellent laughs as the series progresses. Another key supporting character is Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter and the city's chief of police, who starts off being thoroughly unlikable but grows into a more relatable character over the course of the season. The enigmatic Amon, with his smoothly threatening voice and blank-faced mask, is also an effective villain.

As with Avatar, the show can be watched and enjoyed by kids and adults on different levels. Kids will likely respond to the action-focused storylines and cute animal characters, whilst adults will likely appreciate the allusions (and even satire) to our own history and society. The inequalities in the setting, based on both the growth of capitalism and the fact that benders are almost able always to get jobs whilst non-benders suffer (fuelling Amon's revolution), are tackled head-on in a surprisingly mature way for a kid's show. However, the socio-economic tensions emerge organically from the setting and its development from the original series rather then being developed too incongruously. This extends to magic as well, with the new forms of bending discovered towards the end of the original show (metalbending and energybending) both playing key new roles in this series and being developed logically.

The show suffers a little from being restricted to just 12 episodes in its first season (compared to Avatar's 20 episodes per season). Story arcs that the viewer might have expected to last a bit longer are compressed into just an episode or two, and sometimes the pacing feels off. This lack of time also means that some elements - such as the size of Amon's forces and the firepower available to it - feel a little unconvincing. More damaging is the decision to base the season's main emotional arc around a love triangle between Mako, Asami and Korra. With more time to develop, this could have made for a more effective background element (much as how romance was handled in the original series), but here it's much more front-and-centre and dominates two episodes to their detriment. The limited screentime also means some characters (like General Iroh, Zuko's grandson who amusingly shares his grandfather's voice actor) aren't really fleshed out at all and just show up, do some stuff and disappear without much being learned about them.

Still, the flipside of the fewer episodes means that there's less hanging about and each episode feels busier, developing multiple storylines in tandem as well as building up the setting and the backdrop. It could all have exploded into an incoherent mess, but the writers manage the chaos quite well.

Despite some flaws, The Legend of Korra - Book I: Air (****) is a worthy follow-up to Avatar: The Last Airbender. It tries to be different whilst also exploring the consequences of the preceding series and manages to pull both off. The characters aren't quite a match for their predecessors, but this remains a highly watchable and engaging animated series. It is available now on DVD (UK, USA) and Blu-Ray (UK, USA). Book II: Spirit will be released in 2014.