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Fun fact: Avatar Wan is voiced by Steven Yeun, who voices Mark Grayson in Invincible. Meanwhile, Tenzin is voiced by J.K. Simmons, who voices Omni-Man in Invincible.
The people who dislike korra for this episode dont like that we got the first avatar exspalined they wanted it be this mysterius event and that its nit just people got taught bending by animals now we have a actual reason bending is genetic the lion turttles they think its a retcon even tho the show creators stated this was the original intent
I like to think there really are dozens of turtles and they grant different things. there are only four elements but there’s other things such as “energy bending” which is what the lion turtle at the end of ATLA gave aang. They can do so much with this in the future.
Fun detail: in The Library episode in ATLA, Aang look at a scroll with a picture of a person (that we now know to be Avatar Wan) with 4 giant lion-turtles.
1 or 2 good episodes doesn’t make it a good season… Hitler was good at art, and he was great at doing speaches, that doesn’t make him a good person, he’s still one of the worst people that have come out of the human race.
I do really like these episodes, but I’m not so crazy about the good/evil dichotomy that Raava and Vaatu represent, I’d be fine with it if they just happened to be two powerful spirits, one of whom has good intentions, and the other one bad intentions, but them being essentially embodiments of good and evil doesn’t gel with the ethos of ATLA, in my opinion.
The Wan episodes were literally the only part of this season I liked. In fact, I would’ve greatly enjoyed this whole season being in the style of these episodes. Tho now that I’m rewatching this with y’all, I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I just don’t like how disconnected Team Avatar is in this season. Korra is doing her own thing. Mako and Asami have their romance thing going on that’s unwanted. And bolin is being a pompous butt with his movie star thing. Everyone is so separated and has so many goals that aren’t aligned. They’re not working as a team anymore. I also really liked the whole pro-bending thing in season one and they completely cut that for the rest of the show.
So, these two episodes are arguably my favorite episodes in all of Korra. Unfortunately, the rest of S2 is terrible, these two eps and Varrick are the only redeeming qualities XD. That being said, I still enjoy the show as a whole. Glad you guys are enjoying, can’t wait to see more.
I will say for me I had a problem with Season 2 in that I was all in for the nuanced political stuff between the north and the south. And then it was just evil spirits I also didn’t want an origin story for the avatar I felt it took something away from it by explaining things.
Personally this is the point where the story dips in terms of writing. The introduction of Raava and Vaatu really messes with a lot of established things that weren’t necessary. Up until this point spirits, especially in ATLA were neutral in every way and only followed each their own established rules. With introducing an absolute good and an absolute evil that each influence every spirit in existence it really diminishes that whole point and demystifies them to their own detriment. Especially Vaatu feels hastily thrown together in how he just turns everything evil by simply existing in comparison to Raava not really showing any effect, considering that when they were fighting and balancing each other out nothing was any different from when Vaatu was defeated and Raava was in power. And it’s really a shame, because everything else within the flashback is great and adds onto the world building really well. Within this season everything before the flashback is really well written for the most parts and puts a great focus on politics and characters while everything after the flashback just feels like style over substance hidden behind moments of fan service.
Also one fantastic detail is how wan and the other humans used fire bending very roughly, basically just tossing it around, and then we get a montage of wan training with a dragon (and doing the exact same dance zuko and aang learned from the sun warriors!) and thus becomes a much more powerful bender. Shows the turtles simply gave them control over the elements, actual bending as a martial art was later learned from the bison, dragons, badger moles and the moon.
This really is the crown jewel of season 2 for me. The rest of it is pretty great, but trust and belive, season 3 is gonna blow the hair right out of your heads. It’s bonkers and i cannot wait
I can definitely understand and respect that there are fans of ATLA out there who didn’t like how some things in Korra were handled but I don’t think it’s the worst series ever. I like how the creators were able to follow up on the original series with this continuation where they’ve gotten to further explore aspects of this world that were maybe only approached briefly in the first series much like the spirits and the spirit world.
I think I’m one of the rare people who loves these episodes on their own but hates how they change the overall lore. Tim from Hello Future Me expresses it better, but Raava and Vatu being strictly good or evil puts the spirits into a light where they go from mysterious in their motivations and both helpful and dangerous like Koh to flat out good and evil. I think if we had seen how with only Raava’s influence the world was peaceful but nothing changed because there was only order and how Vatu was a corrupting influence but how chaos also brings innovation it would have helped with the morality and also truly I think as the embodiment of Balance the Avatar should have been made by bonding with both Vatu and Raava, though I know that would mess with the rest of this season’s plot.
There’s a lot of amazing details here. Like how the citizens leaving the Lion Turtle is kind of symbolic of the birth of the Fire Nation. And you skimmed over the intro (again dont do that for the season premieres, because it tells you important info, like Season 2 told you that 6 months have passed) but Wan learned to “Master” fire while in the wilds for those two years he spent there. We just saw the Origins of the Dancing Dragon Technique that Aang and Zuko learned in Avatar. So while the Lion Turtles gave people the ability to bend, they learned to master the actual martial arts from the animals like Dragons, Badger Moles, Sky Bison, and The Moon. Also you can see the Airbenders tattoos were always a part of their culture, and even had a different design.
No Wan Shi Tong just hates the Avatar. Remember when Aang decided to do the one thing he explicitly forbade even though that thing, that is getting the knowledge to defeat the Fire Nation, was important to restore the balance of the world.
My theory about the dozens of lion turtles goes back to Guru Patik, the guru that taught Aang how to unlock his chakras. He mentioned that the division of the elements is only an illusion. Even the lion turtles sometimes don’t refer to the elements individually. The call it “the power of the element” but still recognize the difference between fire and air. It makes me think that each turtle only offers a piece of the whole. Even though there are dozens, each has a varying piece of the main 4 elemental divisions and maybe an inclination to a bending subset. Like one fire lion turtle can also give the ability of lightning while another fire lion turtle can give the ability of the“breath of fire”(the technique that allows them to breathe fire and increase their internal temp.) Just an idea, theirs really no explanation for the remaining lion turtles that I know of.
Some things that you guys probably missed since you guys forgot??
1. The way Wan learned to master firebending is the same way Zuko and Aan learned it with the Dragons and doing the dragon dance.
2. The light and dark spirits as well as the north amd south pole portals are also representations of the black and white koi fish circling each other to keep the balance.
3. Raava is the avatar spirit as they’ve said in the episode. Hence why if the the avatar dies in the avatar state, the cycle will end.
4. The order in which Wan learned the other elements is also how the avatar cycle came to be. Fire, Air, Water then Earth.
5. Wan said “In turn I will help you restore balance to the world”, which was like the intro to Avatar Last Airbender as well as the mission for all the avatars.
6. The portal Korra opened is one of the portals Wan closed.
There is retcons in this season that’s why people dislike this season there is also a couple other reasons why this season is disliked but we cannot speak of these yet.
While this I one of the best episodes (this comment section alone should resemble that), there’s a really stupid complaint a bunch of people had. They complained that it “retconned” the history of bending. It didn’t. In the original, we learned benders learned to control the four elements from the moon, dragons, badger moles, and sky bison. Here, we learned that they obtained it from lion turtles. These are two separate things and some people just don’t get that, for some reason. We even see Wan learning to refine his fire bending from a dragon, even doing the dragon dance from season 3.
Also, voice actor fun facts…
The spirit that called Wan, Stinky, whom Boom said sounded like Moxie from Helluva Boss, was voiced by Jason Marsden. He’s done maaaany things, but my personal favorite is Max in A Goofy Movie (recommended Movie reaction, btw).
The female fire sage who brought Korra in at the start is Serena Williams. Yes, the athlete. She loves the series and this is her se one appearance in it. The first was the fire nation prison guard who was kind to Iroh just before the eclipse.
I glad you guys enjoyed it. Honestly if you guys like the next 4 episodes too then you will probably like the rest of the show. The next 4 are arguably the weakest episodes of LOK and it’s all uphill from there.
On another note there are people who don’t like the origin episodes. You can maybe make an argument for it being too much of explaining the magic but as someone who loves lore and backstories I love these episodes. Also these episodes do retcon ATLA a bit with origin of bending coming from Lion Turtles and not the original animal benders like Air Bisons, Dragons and Mole Badgers. But the justification for this retcon is that the Lion Turtles weren’t actually teaching the people bending. Just the ability to wield the elements. The original animal benders are who taught humans the art of bending. Think of it like someone teaching you just to throw a punch and someone teaching you box.
And, this was the explosive return of Studio Mir. They went all out visually here. I agree this is the weakest season of LoK, but these episodes are easily top tier of the series. I’d even say they’re top tier for the franchise. The Avatar team’s story telling ability is on full display. One of the things I like about LoK is the ability to create stories within stories despite limited time. Considering the constraints the team were while dealing with Nickolodeon, they were still able to deliver mind blowing episodes. I’m excited to see what they create with more freedom.
The “Face Stealer Guy” is covered in the comic book titled The Search. Which also addresses the story of Zukos Mother. It is never discussed in Korra.
Also every season of Korra is in a way its own story. What happens in previous seasons helps shape the story of the next one but they each have their own Big Bads and stories.
Also notice how the bending is so unrefined in Wan’s backstory. It’s a cool little detail to show that the early benders had not learned the martial arts tied to their bending. For example in the Fire benders case it was the Sun dance from the Dragons.
Btw rememebr when Roku in ATLA assured Aang that he can master the 4 elements in a year because he has done it before. He was actually talking about Avatar Wan.
I fully have faith in the creators of Avatar because they have yet to disappoint. There are so many stories to expand, not to mention the books they have out on Avatars Kyoshi and Yangchen. Avatar Kuruk is also so underrated and not many people know he spent his entire life fighting spirits after Koh stole the face of his wife.
You guys are so lucky you’re watching this at a time where Avatar Studios has content PENDING, it was so devastating to be 12 years old, watching the finale of ATLA with nothing to look forward to.
‘Now we are bonded forever’
I said before starting Korra that there are moments in the show that I like better than anything in ATLA and this moment is one of the two. Can’t wait for you guys to get to the second one.
Avatar Wan was the first character played by Steven Yeun that I met (because I didn’t watch the Walking Dead), and after this he went on to be in Voltron, Trollhunters, and Invincible! (Now I just always hear Mark ?)
Also, I think it was confirmed that the battleground where Wan died was also shown in the scene from “Zuko Alone” where he’s travelling on the back of that ostrich-horse.
I think the issue at the time was criticisms being intensified by echo chambers of fans, and especially with Nickelodeon blindsiding the creators with 2 more seasons with a shorter schedule to develop the story, and I think for the season as a whole it needed another draft, just to make it more consistent, but what happened has happened. As time moves on fans are enjoying Korra more and seeing the series as a whole rather than just its negatives. The story of Avatar Wan is fantastic with so much thought and respect to the cultures they drew inspiration from. I’m not surprised fans have this story on par with Aangs. I’m glad you guys are enjoying the show and I can’t wait for season 3 and 4.
Hey guys. Been a little absent from the korra reactions as season 2 is the poorest imo but I HAD to watch these 2 episodes just idk what went wrong with the rest of the season but just *chefs kiss* glad you guys liked it
Fun fact: Avatar Wan is voiced by Steven Yeun, who voices Mark Grayson in Invincible. Meanwhile, Tenzin is voiced by J.K. Simmons, who voices Omni-Man in Invincible.
The people who dislike korra for this episode dont like that we got the first avatar exspalined they wanted it be this mysterius event and that its nit just people got taught bending by animals now we have a actual reason bending is genetic the lion turttles they think its a retcon even tho the show creators stated this was the original intent
I like to think there really are dozens of turtles and they grant different things. there are only four elements but there’s other things such as “energy bending” which is what the lion turtle at the end of ATLA gave aang. They can do so much with this in the future.
Fun detail: in The Library episode in ATLA, Aang look at a scroll with a picture of a person (that we now know to be Avatar Wan) with 4 giant lion-turtles.
1 or 2 good episodes doesn’t make it a good season… Hitler was good at art, and he was great at doing speaches, that doesn’t make him a good person, he’s still one of the worst people that have come out of the human race.
You really comparing kora to hitler bruh you may hate on it but it doesn’t make the show as bad as hitler or really bad
I do really like these episodes, but I’m not so crazy about the good/evil dichotomy that Raava and Vaatu represent, I’d be fine with it if they just happened to be two powerful spirits, one of whom has good intentions, and the other one bad intentions, but them being essentially embodiments of good and evil doesn’t gel with the ethos of ATLA, in my opinion.
That lemur guy is lowkey one of my favorite characters.
The Wan episodes were literally the only part of this season I liked. In fact, I would’ve greatly enjoyed this whole season being in the style of these episodes. Tho now that I’m rewatching this with y’all, I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I just don’t like how disconnected Team Avatar is in this season. Korra is doing her own thing. Mako and Asami have their romance thing going on that’s unwanted. And bolin is being a pompous butt with his movie star thing. Everyone is so separated and has so many goals that aren’t aligned. They’re not working as a team anymore. I also really liked the whole pro-bending thing in season one and they completely cut that for the rest of the show.
So, these two episodes are arguably my favorite episodes in all of Korra. Unfortunately, the rest of S2 is terrible, these two eps and Varrick are the only redeeming qualities XD. That being said, I still enjoy the show as a whole. Glad you guys are enjoying, can’t wait to see more.
I will say for me I had a problem with Season 2 in that I was all in for the nuanced political stuff between the north and the south. And then it was just evil spirits I also didn’t want an origin story for the avatar I felt it took something away from it by explaining things.
Personally this is the point where the story dips in terms of writing. The introduction of Raava and Vaatu really messes with a lot of established things that weren’t necessary. Up until this point spirits, especially in ATLA were neutral in every way and only followed each their own established rules. With introducing an absolute good and an absolute evil that each influence every spirit in existence it really diminishes that whole point and demystifies them to their own detriment. Especially Vaatu feels hastily thrown together in how he just turns everything evil by simply existing in comparison to Raava not really showing any effect, considering that when they were fighting and balancing each other out nothing was any different from when Vaatu was defeated and Raava was in power. And it’s really a shame, because everything else within the flashback is great and adds onto the world building really well. Within this season everything before the flashback is really well written for the most parts and puts a great focus on politics and characters while everything after the flashback just feels like style over substance hidden behind moments of fan service.
Also one fantastic detail is how wan and the other humans used fire bending very roughly, basically just tossing it around, and then we get a montage of wan training with a dragon (and doing the exact same dance zuko and aang learned from the sun warriors!) and thus becomes a much more powerful bender. Shows the turtles simply gave them control over the elements, actual bending as a martial art was later learned from the bison, dragons, badger moles and the moon.
This really is the crown jewel of season 2 for me. The rest of it is pretty great, but trust and belive, season 3 is gonna blow the hair right out of your heads. It’s bonkers and i cannot wait
“The earth bending avatar who looked like the Kiyoshi Warriors”
Do you mean… Kiyoshi? I’m sorry, I just found that hilarious
I can definitely understand and respect that there are fans of ATLA out there who didn’t like how some things in Korra were handled but I don’t think it’s the worst series ever. I like how the creators were able to follow up on the original series with this continuation where they’ve gotten to further explore aspects of this world that were maybe only approached briefly in the first series much like the spirits and the spirit world.
I think I’m one of the rare people who loves these episodes on their own but hates how they change the overall lore. Tim from Hello Future Me expresses it better, but Raava and Vatu being strictly good or evil puts the spirits into a light where they go from mysterious in their motivations and both helpful and dangerous like Koh to flat out good and evil. I think if we had seen how with only Raava’s influence the world was peaceful but nothing changed because there was only order and how Vatu was a corrupting influence but how chaos also brings innovation it would have helped with the morality and also truly I think as the embodiment of Balance the Avatar should have been made by bonding with both Vatu and Raava, though I know that would mess with the rest of this season’s plot.
And a small little detail now, you can see how there are more Sky Bison. The Fire Sages have had a whole herd of them since Aangs time.
There’s a lot of amazing details here. Like how the citizens leaving the Lion Turtle is kind of symbolic of the birth of the Fire Nation. And you skimmed over the intro (again dont do that for the season premieres, because it tells you important info, like Season 2 told you that 6 months have passed) but Wan learned to “Master” fire while in the wilds for those two years he spent there. We just saw the Origins of the Dancing Dragon Technique that Aang and Zuko learned in Avatar. So while the Lion Turtles gave people the ability to bend, they learned to master the actual martial arts from the animals like Dragons, Badger Moles, Sky Bison, and The Moon. Also you can see the Airbenders tattoos were always a part of their culture, and even had a different design.
could not figure out why I felt wan sounded so familiar this time watching… steven Yeun same as Invincible
The end of the episode panned then paused on a small island, it is implied that it is the Lion Turtle who helped Aang.
No Wan Shi Tong just hates the Avatar. Remember when Aang decided to do the one thing he explicitly forbade even though that thing, that is getting the knowledge to defeat the Fire Nation, was important to restore the balance of the world.
My theory about the dozens of lion turtles goes back to Guru Patik, the guru that taught Aang how to unlock his chakras. He mentioned that the division of the elements is only an illusion. Even the lion turtles sometimes don’t refer to the elements individually. The call it “the power of the element” but still recognize the difference between fire and air. It makes me think that each turtle only offers a piece of the whole. Even though there are dozens, each has a varying piece of the main 4 elemental divisions and maybe an inclination to a bending subset. Like one fire lion turtle can also give the ability of lightning while another fire lion turtle can give the ability of the“breath of fire”(the technique that allows them to breathe fire and increase their internal temp.) Just an idea, theirs really no explanation for the remaining lion turtles that I know of.
Some things that you guys probably missed since you guys forgot??
1. The way Wan learned to master firebending is the same way Zuko and Aan learned it with the Dragons and doing the dragon dance.
2. The light and dark spirits as well as the north amd south pole portals are also representations of the black and white koi fish circling each other to keep the balance.
3. Raava is the avatar spirit as they’ve said in the episode. Hence why if the the avatar dies in the avatar state, the cycle will end.
4. The order in which Wan learned the other elements is also how the avatar cycle came to be. Fire, Air, Water then Earth.
5. Wan said “In turn I will help you restore balance to the world”, which was like the intro to Avatar Last Airbender as well as the mission for all the avatars.
6. The portal Korra opened is one of the portals Wan closed.
Check out the graphic novels to learn the face stealer story.
“The Avatar that looked like the Kyoshi warriors.” You mean Kyoshi?
There is retcons in this season that’s why people dislike this season there is also a couple other reasons why this season is disliked but we cannot speak of these yet.
this one makes me sob up, also CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS TO GET TO SEASON 3 WOOOOOOO
While this I one of the best episodes (this comment section alone should resemble that), there’s a really stupid complaint a bunch of people had. They complained that it “retconned” the history of bending. It didn’t. In the original, we learned benders learned to control the four elements from the moon, dragons, badger moles, and sky bison. Here, we learned that they obtained it from lion turtles. These are two separate things and some people just don’t get that, for some reason. We even see Wan learning to refine his fire bending from a dragon, even doing the dragon dance from season 3.
Also, voice actor fun facts…
The spirit that called Wan, Stinky, whom Boom said sounded like Moxie from Helluva Boss, was voiced by Jason Marsden. He’s done maaaany things, but my personal favorite is Max in A Goofy Movie (recommended Movie reaction, btw).
The female fire sage who brought Korra in at the start is Serena Williams. Yes, the athlete. She loves the series and this is her se one appearance in it. The first was the fire nation prison guard who was kind to Iroh just before the eclipse.
Easily my 2 favourite episodes of TLOK maybe even ATLA still not a big fan of the rest of TLOK tho ngl
I glad you guys enjoyed it. Honestly if you guys like the next 4 episodes too then you will probably like the rest of the show. The next 4 are arguably the weakest episodes of LOK and it’s all uphill from there.
On another note there are people who don’t like the origin episodes. You can maybe make an argument for it being too much of explaining the magic but as someone who loves lore and backstories I love these episodes. Also these episodes do retcon ATLA a bit with origin of bending coming from Lion Turtles and not the original animal benders like Air Bisons, Dragons and Mole Badgers. But the justification for this retcon is that the Lion Turtles weren’t actually teaching the people bending. Just the ability to wield the elements. The original animal benders are who taught humans the art of bending. Think of it like someone teaching you just to throw a punch and someone teaching you box.
*just to box
And, this was the explosive return of Studio Mir. They went all out visually here. I agree this is the weakest season of LoK, but these episodes are easily top tier of the series. I’d even say they’re top tier for the franchise. The Avatar team’s story telling ability is on full display. One of the things I like about LoK is the ability to create stories within stories despite limited time. Considering the constraints the team were while dealing with Nickolodeon, they were still able to deliver mind blowing episodes. I’m excited to see what they create with more freedom.
Also fun fact the battlefield that Avatar Wan died in is the same as the one Zuko passed in ‘Zuko Alone’.
The “Face Stealer Guy” is covered in the comic book titled The Search. Which also addresses the story of Zukos Mother. It is never discussed in Korra.
Also every season of Korra is in a way its own story. What happens in previous seasons helps shape the story of the next one but they each have their own Big Bads and stories.
Also it’s ironic that if not for a firebender, the big bad of ATLA, and his ambition for having more power the Avatar wouldn’t exist.
These are the episodes of this season I’ve been waiting for. By far my favorite and in my opinion the shining light of the season for me.
Personally my favorite episode and moment of the show involves Bumi and a flute.
Also notice how the bending is so unrefined in Wan’s backstory. It’s a cool little detail to show that the early benders had not learned the martial arts tied to their bending. For example in the Fire benders case it was the Sun dance from the Dragons.
Btw rememebr when Roku in ATLA assured Aang that he can master the 4 elements in a year because he has done it before. He was actually talking about Avatar Wan.
Technically Aang had a few months not even a full year. But never thought of it like that before you said that. Good catch
I fully have faith in the creators of Avatar because they have yet to disappoint. There are so many stories to expand, not to mention the books they have out on Avatars Kyoshi and Yangchen. Avatar Kuruk is also so underrated and not many people know he spent his entire life fighting spirits after Koh stole the face of his wife.
You guys are so lucky you’re watching this at a time where Avatar Studios has content PENDING, it was so devastating to be 12 years old, watching the finale of ATLA with nothing to look forward to.
‘Now we are bonded forever’
I said before starting Korra that there are moments in the show that I like better than anything in ATLA and this moment is one of the two. Can’t wait for you guys to get to the second one.
‘We will be together for all your lifetime and we will never give up’
This one is just as good.
Avatar Wan was the first character played by Steven Yeun that I met (because I didn’t watch the Walking Dead), and after this he went on to be in Voltron, Trollhunters, and Invincible! (Now I just always hear Mark ?)
Also, I think it was confirmed that the battleground where Wan died was also shown in the scene from “Zuko Alone” where he’s travelling on the back of that ostrich-horse.
Been waiting for these episodes! Also can not wait for the next set of episodes.
I think the issue at the time was criticisms being intensified by echo chambers of fans, and especially with Nickelodeon blindsiding the creators with 2 more seasons with a shorter schedule to develop the story, and I think for the season as a whole it needed another draft, just to make it more consistent, but what happened has happened. As time moves on fans are enjoying Korra more and seeing the series as a whole rather than just its negatives. The story of Avatar Wan is fantastic with so much thought and respect to the cultures they drew inspiration from. I’m not surprised fans have this story on par with Aangs. I’m glad you guys are enjoying the show and I can’t wait for season 3 and 4.
The best part about LoK is when it answers questions we’ve had since ATLA but never got answers for.
This is definitely my favourite couple of episodes in the early seasons of Korra!
two of my favorite episodes of Korra
Hey guys. Been a little absent from the korra reactions as season 2 is the poorest imo but I HAD to watch these 2 episodes just idk what went wrong with the rest of the season but just *chefs kiss* glad you guys liked it
I don’t get why people dislike this season so much too, maybe it isn’t as good as the others but it isn’t bad, it’s good and really fun to watch!!
to me imo starting with these episodes til the end is what really carries it. i find the first half just ok
True, 1st half was decent.
yes finally
fun fact that in korra there are AIR bison in atla appa was last SKY bison
fire nation had no need to kill the animals, so im sure some people kept them as exotic pets or like zoo’s for the elites.
People didn’t like korra because she was boruto be before boruto