swatkat

I think it has been established at this point that Lin is the Avengers, and the writers are just messing with my head. I mean, let us just consider her actions in the episode:

- Jumping out of bed as soon as she hears that Korra is in trouble, although she herself is injured
- Stoically preparing for action
- Rocking that vest like a rocking thing
- SUITING UP
- Wearing a SWISHY NOIR COAT
- Breaking Team Avatar out of jail
- Zipperbending (I wonder what stories Tenzin has to tell)
- Leading the mission like a stoic BAMF and being basically magic
- RESCUING HER MEN LIKE THE LEADER THAT SHE IS
- Slapping Tenzin out of unconsciousness (it did not look like the first time, ahaha)
- Being appropriately concerned for Korra when she was finally found

It's like they know me, guys. *FLAILS*

I'm glad I'm not the only person flailing here, because the Legend of Korra and Lin Beifong tags yesterday were filled with unending flail. But this is where fandom and I part ways, because I don't agree with fandom on any of the other matters under discussion.

First, Tenzin. Here's the thing: I adore Tenzin. I adore Tenzin not because he's super competent and badass like Lin is, but because he's the very opposite. He's a man in over his head, stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. You get the feeling that he would have been happiest with raising his family and being an Airbending master and training Korra about patience and spirituality. But here he is instead, stuck with the responsibility of being the only adult Airbender in the world - stuck in a world of politics where his cautiousness is mistaken for cowardice and his gentleness mistaken for weakness, although he is neither. It takes immense strength to know that your destiny is already determined for you, and that it doesn't involve heroism or flashy saving the world but all the things that are 'weak': having children, raising them, surviving.

I've seen Tenzin being compared to Iroh - but while he is like Iroh in some ways (everything he says is right, but no one ever listens to him), he is by no means secretly awesome the way Iroh clearly was, right from the very first episode of AtLA. He's a bit of a failboat, and that's okay. It makes him human.

Second, Asami. Now I should mention that I do not hate love triangles - in the sense that I do not think they are inherently bad, although they are usually pretty terribly handled. I don't care about any Mako related ship beyond enjoying the pretty of both Mako/Korra and Mako/Asami. But that said, I'm not upset that the show is exploring the awkward messiness of their relationships a bit - if we are to have romance, I'd rather have romance that is EXPLAINED than BAM!ROMANCE! like in AtLA. I find Asami’s discomfort with Korra and Mako a pretty natural reaction. She and Mako haven't been together for very long, but due to circumstances, he's the only person who is ‘hers’ now. She could have thrown a hissyfit right there in front of everyone, but she didn’t - she quietly took Bolin aside and asked him what was up, which was extremely mature of her. She has made more than one effort to be friends with Korra, and by her own admission, she thinks Korra is ‘amazing’. Whenever Korra has needed her, like even in this episode, she has been right there, doing her thing, in spite of not having any fancy bending skills of her own. I look at her and see a strength of character that very few people have in her age, and that gives me hope that she and Korra won’t ‘fight’ over Mako (they haven’t so far), but get past this awkwardness and be the friends they’re meant to be - they have too much in common to not get along.

There are more things between Korra and Asami than just Mako, like the fact that Asami gave up everything - went against her beloved father - to do the right thing, with Korra here being the living representative of the Right Thing, the Avatar. What must it be like, siding with the Avatar and finding that she’s just a girl, like you?

Asami is also the only non-bender in the group, and that makes matters even more interesting. As the woman in the previous episode pointed out, Korra is their Avatar too. This is something Korra is recognizing only now, as she begins to understand what oppression truly means, and what the Avatar stands for. As the oppressed people become real to her. In many ways, Asami is just as privileged as Korra, her father’s personal wealth ensuring that she never has to face the sort of oppression other non-benders face. But now that it’s all gone, and she’s just a girl with mad martial arts skillz and a spine of steel, where does she stand? How does she relate to the world as a non-bender? How does knowing her change Korra’s already changing perspective towards non-benders, whom, I suspect, she was not really exposed to very much prior to coming to Republic City?

I think one of the problems with a 12 episode series is that some of the ensemble characters get less screentime - in this case it’s Mako and Bolin, and to a certain extent Asami (who, I argue, has been given far more interesting stuff to do than the bending brothers in spite of having lesser screentime). I want them to get more interesting things to do, too - I want their journeys. But I also get that right now, it would cut down on Lin and Tenzin’s screentime, and I cannot be having with that. I hope this changes in a hopefully bigger second season, and we get to see more of the character development we adore this universe for.

Other things:

+ MEELO!
+ Amon. What is he?
+ HOW HOT ARE AANG, TOPH AND SOKKA IN THE FLASHBACK?
+ TOPH/SOKKA. I NOW SHIP IT MORE THAN EVER.
+ Korra rescuing herself - that's my girl.
+ Who thinks Bolin has a bad case of Lin after this episode? *raises hand*

In conclusion: