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Post by Elisabeth Blanctorche on May 12, 2012 22:42:25 GMT -5
Great episode!
It's going to be a blast seeing Korra improve her bending and how she puts her personality into it. Lin kicks some serious Equus asinus. I'm also a little suspicious of Asami and what type of role she'll play in the future. Me and my sister were talking about her, and we both agreed that she seems like the Jet of this series. There are a lot of similarities between Asami and how Jet was handled in his debut.
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valentine
Warrior Sokka
Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.
Posts: 741
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Post by valentine on May 12, 2012 23:34:52 GMT -5
Oh. My. Gosh! Korra freaking kicks butt it is absolutely amazing! I always thought that Aang's fighting abilities were pretty amazing, but Korra blows it out of the water! It was so impressive when she caught Mako, and had the energy to fling him back up onto the ring.
I was also really impressed with Lin and her metal bending. I'm really glad that Tenzin kinda pushed her to give Korra a chance and to help her out and not be against her all the time. I'm still super curious to know who Toph had a kid with, that should be interesting.
And right from the get go I was suspicious of Asami and her motives with Mako. So when the equalists showed up and she was no where to be found...it rose my suspicions.
I am seriously in love with this show!
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attonbitus
Blue Spirit
I'm in ur clouds, steel'n ur thundar
Posts: 2,121
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Post by attonbitus on May 13, 2012 0:21:53 GMT -5
Huh, I actually liked that the hints what we saw between Lin and Tenzin were what I thought they were. It doesn't distract honestly, real relationships are like that. People we fall in love with when we're young often change as they get older.
I know TONS of guys and girls that hang on to a boy/girlfriend they're "bored" with until they find "someone better" just because they don't want to be seen alone OR just don't know how to end it. On the flipside people do crazy things to try to keep that first relationship going. Sometimes all it takes is someone new in the picture to give one party enough courage to finally end it.
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist.
Personally I think it's her design appearance that is triggering this unwarranted suspicion. Heck it's probably not even that. It's the classic "Pretty, rich girl" vs the "Plane jane" at work here. Asumi is from a rich family and obviously was gifted with good looks from her parents. She dresses in clothes that other people can't afford, obviously knows how to make herself up and does so often. With Korra, well you can't get more Plane Jane than her. She doesn't wear make up (as far as we know), her outfits are more function than fashion, and she a rough neck, belching, always spoiling for a fight tomboy.
Throw in the fact that she's our heroine and well the natural reaction its to side with her on all things in the show. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an ep where Korra got dolled up like a "lady" and Mako starts to turn his favor towards her. It's pretty staple for these tomboy versus pretty girl stories. Enough on that topic.
Lin is a BAWS like her mom, too bad her metal benders were out of commission. I was totally looking forward to Tenzin kicking some rear as well, guess we'll have to keep on waiting on that one.
The lighting weapons as the "equalizer" is interesting. In all honesty, they're only equalizers if they're used in enclosed areas where the benders can't use their super reach advantage, though the equalist nullify that with their acrobatics. Interestingly enough, I do think the equalist would lose in a straight on "army vs army" battle in the open. However, their choice of battleground is the city so they're fighting pretty tight quarters, house to house that really negates the benders natural advantages if they're not trying to level city blocks.
but yeah, hands down BEST episode yet!
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Post by Musogato on May 13, 2012 4:20:15 GMT -5
Aaaah, such an exciting episode! I love how every episode so far just continues to bring it. I can't wait to see where things go from here. Republic City is at war, wow. Chief Lin Beifong: totally fangirling her now. She had Spider-Man moves! Aah! Amazing~ <3 I also loved that there was time for a brief backstory between her and Tenzin, and it just seems insanely adorable to me that she got along well with Aang. I'm curious though if she's more bitter towards Tenzin or Pema though, but regardless I hope they'll be able to be friends again. Her being a bit nicer to Korra now is great too, and I really hope that they will team up for fights in the future because those scenes were spectacular. Council: Oh man, what is Tarrlok up to? Setting Lin up as the scapegoat for when the protection plan failed, I wonder if he's going to do some sort of press conference in the next ep bashing the decision. I'm also kind of surprised that Amon sent the notice/demand to the council like he did, seeing as the council is made of all benders. Perhaps like Korra, he's saving his attack on them for later when the time is right. The Pro-bending match: Augh, cheaters! Although it's great that the Fire Ferrets were able to stay in for as long as they did, still, augh. I don't get how the referee could continue to make those bad calls when there clearly were infractions going on; shouldn't there be some sort of counter-balance for crooked/paid-off refs? I guess we know now how that guy in the last round got that hole in his helmet; he must have been hit with an illegal move. Beh. The announcer guy though, he was great. And despite being cheaters, the Wolfbat entrance was pretty awesome. Pyrotechnics! Very nice. Asami: Again her role is incredibly limited. And once the Equalist attack started, they never showed her or Hiroshi again, not even a 'run and panic!' shot. It's incredibly suspicious, more so because as she's connected to one of the main characters, she should be given time to have a reaction shot. She's had three episodes now, and we still don't see that much of her. It's weird! I know things are pressed for time, but they surely could include her more if they wanted to, which must mean that they don't want to, or at least not yet. Considering how Bryke has written other small-role characters, I cannot believe that they would restrict Asami to the wallpaper background girlfriend role without a bigger purpose for her down the road. It's just too much of a waste for her character otherwise. Because it's not like she's Toza or Skoochy, where there's history but it's not really explored (or at least not yet so far), Asami is the brand new girlfriend/rival/sponsor's daughter/and from her bio a pretty awesome chick, and yet we still only see her for a few seconds per episode after her debut, and not really any interaction with anyone besides Mako. There has to be a larger meaning behind that besides 'everything else is taking precedence,' because otherwise why give her so many hats to wear if she's not even going to be a player? Or at least in my opinion, anyway. Esile, Mako and Bolin live in one of the towers on the sides of the building though, don't they? Since it seems like only the central arena was damaged, they might not have to move, although that would be pretty cute to see 'em interact with Tenzin's family. But then it's possible the bros might be kicked out anyway if the whole building has to be renovated or cordoned off because of the damage.
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nandireya
Zuko's Path to Redemption Mod
...tickled pink...
Posts: 6,822
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Post by nandireya on May 13, 2012 4:37:23 GMT -5
Lin is amazingly spry for a fifty-year-old...
And Pabu continues to be too adorable for words. I so want a fire ferret...or at least a cuddly plush one. And Bolin 'talking' to him? Equally too adorable for words.
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Post by zukofan21 on May 13, 2012 12:12:31 GMT -5
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist. I'm just going to comment on that one thing. The attack was far too coordinated for anyone to just leave. If they got out, it's either because the Equalists got them out (involved), they were participants (involved), or they knew what was going to happen (involved). No matter how you slice that, if they escaped, it was with some foreknowledge or Equalist help.
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Post by ILZ on May 13, 2012 16:40:12 GMT -5
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist. I'm just going to comment on that one thing. The attack was far too coordinated for anyone to just leave. If they got out, it's either because the Equalists got them out (involved), they were participants (involved), or they knew what was going to happen (involved). No matter how you slice that, if they escaped, it was with some foreknowledge or Equalist help. While I suppose it is possible that they just didn't show Asami again after the battle, I agree more with the involvement theory. They took the time to show that she was there so they obviously wanted us to know. If she was still in the arena somewhere I would imagine that Mako would have tried to find her to protect her and she would have been with him at the end when he and Bolin met back up with Korra. Of course I would think he would go looking for her if she wasn't in the arena, so that seems a little weird too. There is just something suspicious about the whole deal to me.
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Post by Musogato on May 13, 2012 17:26:06 GMT -5
Another strange thing about Asami is that, since she's such a big pro-bending fan, wouldn't she know about the Wolfbats' cheating tendencies? I know it goes against the element of surprise for the audience, but couldn't she have warned Mako and the team to watch out for that? The other odd thing to me is that, while the match itself was really exciting/aggravating, the only responses shown to it were from Tenzin, the announcer, and random fans/Tahno's groupies in the crowd. It is just really weird to me that there were no quick shots to Asami (and Hiroshi) as the match was going on, either cheering or complaining, considering how many ties they have to the Fire Ferrets. I get that there's a slice of ingrained misogyny to the Asami treatment, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Pretty Rich Girl vs Plain Jane Hero element to some fans' reasoning. But from a writer's stance, there is just something weird going on here too. Asami is being kept away from really interacting with the team and her appearances are just long enough to show that she still exists within the main circle. Maybe I just have too much stock in Bryke's writing, but I'm convinced that there must be a reason for it aside from cutting all of her screen time so there's more room for other stuff. Because if that is the real reason why she's rarely there, then that's really poor writing and I expected better.
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Sheogorath
Kyoshi Azula
Lord of the Never-There
Yeah, an Avatard and a brony. Got a problem with that?
Posts: 2,223
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Post by Sheogorath on May 13, 2012 17:33:58 GMT -5
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist. Personally I think it's her design appearance that is triggering this unwarranted suspicion. Heck it's probably not even that. It's the classic "Pretty, rich girl" vs the "Plane jane" at work here. Asumi is from a rich family and obviously was gifted with good looks from her parents. She dresses in clothes that other people can't afford, obviously knows how to make herself up and does so often. With Korra, well you can't get more Plane Jane than her. She doesn't wear make up (as far as we know), her outfits are more function than fashion, and she a rough neck, belching, always spoiling for a fight tomboy. Throw in the fact that she's our heroine and well the natural reaction its to side with her on all things in the show. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an ep where Korra got dolled up like a "lady" and Mako starts to turn his favor towards her. It's pretty staple for these tomboy versus pretty girl stories. Enough on that topic. I'm inclined to agree with this, even though it's been made pretty clear that if Asami and Hiroshi left, they were involved somehow. Can't a nice, pretty rich girl be a nice, pretty rich girl without the secret villainy and whatnot? I'm watching Asami not because I'm suspicious of her any longer, but because in three appearances, she's only appeared for less than 30 seconds in two of them. Hiroshi seems like an alright guy, and I find the whole "Amon was the one who gave him his startup money" theory a bit farfetched. I'm not saying it's not possible, Jeong-Jeong, Master Pakku, King Bumi, Iroh, and Avatar Roku proved in the original series that older people in this world can still kick some major behind, but the way Hiroshi talked about the individual who gave him the money, it sounded to me like they were a good deal older than himself, meaning if it was Amon, Amon now would have to be 70 at least, maybe pushing 80, and that just doesn't seem all that likely to me for a man who supposedly got his face burned off by a firebender and wants to rid the world of bending. Yeah, I concede plans like this take time to work out and get people behind and all that, but there comes a point, even in the Avatar world, where if you have a grudge and you're over a certain age and you still haven't done anything about it, you sit back and say, "I'm too old for this." For all I know, Hiroshi and Asami aren't involved yet, but get involved later when Amon and his men get them as a means to get to Korra though Mako. But on the subject of watching people, I've got my eye on Tarlok, and I am suspicious of him. At first in this episode, I thought maybe he's not so bad, after all. A bit manipulative and slick, but his heart's in the right place and all that, you know? But then he moves that the Council agree to Lin's request, and what should happen but Lin's guard turning into a massive failure? Isn't that convenient? I don't trust Tarlok after this. I don't trust him at all. And about all I have to say after Lin's Spider-Man moment is, and I'm sorry if I offend any of her fans after this, but I can't keep it to myself: Spider-Lin, Spider-Lin, does whatever a Spider-Lin does. Can she swing from a chain? Yes, she can, she's made of win. Look out, here comes the Spider-Lin. ... No, but seriously, Chief Lin Bei Fong is freaking awesome and totally made of win. And on the subject of being made of win, how about Korra catching the edge of the ring and tossing Mako back up? Didn't I say something about wanting to see some of her great physical strength being put to use in situations like this? Yes, I did, and I'm happy for it. And on that note, I'm glad to see cheaters get some comeuppance, what with paid refs and apparently no counter-measures for bribery or plain bias. I'm a little unnerved that it was in the form of having their bending taken away. That's not a fate I'd wish on anybody. Then again, without their bending, that means the Wolfbats can no longer cheat in pro bending matches should the sport continue at some point, so there'd definitely be a new champion team in the next tournament. Not that we'll see it, we may if for no other reason than to see the Fire Ferrets get some respect for a change, but it's certainly obvious that's the road the pro bending will take now that, you know, the defending champions can no longer defend their championship by any means. Kinda sad, though, since the Wolfbats' entrance was pretty cool. But the more I see of Amon, freaked out as I am at how easy it is for him to get in close to take away someone's bending, I still can't help but be impressed by him. He's got a good plan, and so far everything seems to be going exactly as he expected it to. He'll fail, obviously, he kind of has to, but that's what makes him so much fun: wondering how long it'll be until his "perfect" plan comes unraveling around him, how many more seeming plot twists are in line with what he wants. I swear, barring the whole shipping thing last week, this show just gets better by the week.
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Post by zukofan21 on May 13, 2012 22:10:18 GMT -5
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist. Personally I think it's her design appearance that is triggering this unwarranted suspicion. Heck it's probably not even that. It's the classic "Pretty, rich girl" vs the "Plane jane" at work here. Asumi is from a rich family and obviously was gifted with good looks from her parents. She dresses in clothes that other people can't afford, obviously knows how to make herself up and does so often. With Korra, well you can't get more Plane Jane than her. She doesn't wear make up (as far as we know), her outfits are more function than fashion, and she a rough neck, belching, always spoiling for a fight tomboy. Throw in the fact that she's our heroine and well the natural reaction its to side with her on all things in the show. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an ep where Korra got dolled up like a "lady" and Mako starts to turn his favor towards her. It's pretty staple for these tomboy versus pretty girl stories. Enough on that topic. I'm inclined to agree with this, even though it's been made pretty clear that if Asami and Hiroshi left, they were involved somehow. Can't a nice, pretty rich girl be a nice, pretty rich girl without the secret villainy and whatnot? I'm watching Asami not because I'm suspicious of her any longer, but because in three appearances, she's only appeared for less than 30 seconds in two of them. Hiroshi seems like an alright guy, and I find the whole "Amon was the one who gave him his startup money" theory a bit farfetched. I'm not saying it's not possible, Jeong-Jeong, Master Pakku, King Bumi, Iroh, and Avatar Roku proved in the original series that older people in this world can still kick some major behind, but the way Hiroshi talked about the individual who gave him the money, it sounded to me like they were a good deal older than himself, meaning if it was Amon, Amon now would have to be 70 at least, maybe pushing 80, and that just doesn't seem all that likely to me for a man who supposedly got his face burned off by a firebender and wants to rid the world of bending. Yeah, I concede plans like this take time to work out and get people behind and all that, but there comes a point, even in the Avatar world, where if you have a grudge and you're over a certain age and you still haven't done anything about it, you sit back and say, "I'm too old for this." For all I know, Hiroshi and Asami aren't involved yet, but get involved later when Amon and his men get them as a means to get to Korra though Mako. I'm a little unnerved that it was in the form of having their bending taken away. That's not a fate I'd wish on anybody. Then again, without their bending, that means the Wolfbats can no longer cheat in pro bending matches should the sport continue at some point, so there'd definitely be a new champion team in the next tournament. Not that we'll see it, we may if for no other reason than to see the Fire Ferrets get some respect for a change, but it's certainly obvious that's the road the pro bending will take now that, you know, the defending champions can no longer defend their championship by any means. Kinda sad, though, since the Wolfbats' entrance was pretty cool. Yue was a pretty rich girl with no villiany. Maybe not Anon personally, but the Equalist movement could have funded him. Who knows how long they've been underground. The Wolfbats entrance was fabulous.
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Post by copshowguy on May 14, 2012 8:34:58 GMT -5
Korra's firebending is also impressive as always, but I noticed that (minus the first episode) she rarely uses multiple styles of bending at once. That needs to change if she is going to have any edge. This episode also notes how important airbending is going to be for her, if she can ever use it! She definitely seems to prefer firebending as it is a very direct way of fighting. But to be fair, there were no other elements for her to use up on the dome rooftop. I can definitely see some resemblance between Tarlock and that man in the flashbacks now. He is even wearing clothing similar to Tarlock, so he's probably of the Water Tribe. Loved how Lin went all Omega Red with her wires. That was some smooth animation. And that announcer! Most dedicated announcer ever!
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Post by Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk on May 14, 2012 11:24:45 GMT -5
And that announcer! Most dedicated announcer ever! Oh yeah! That was some "And the band played on" level of intestinal fortitude!
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Post by copshowguy on May 14, 2012 11:58:21 GMT -5
Forgot to mention: Yeah, Tahno and the Wolfbats were cheaters and jerks but I hadn't grown to hate him enough to want to see his bending taken away. Before that, the only people that lost there bending were the triad crime leaders and long Ozai before that. Real bad dudes.
At least Korra got a 1 on 1 with Tahno and showed him a what for before he lost his bending.
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Post by Nashk Tategami on May 14, 2012 16:54:46 GMT -5
I'm SERIOUSLY not understanding why some of y'all are still suspicious of Asumi. While i would have liked to see her reactions to the match, it's pretty understandable she and her father would leave as soon as the attacks started if they could. From what we saw, the equalist were only threatening folks associated with pro bending. We can draw a reach and pull on the "her father was backed by Amon all those years ago theory", but i just don't see Asumi being on the side of the equalist. Personally I think it's her design appearance that is triggering this unwarranted suspicion. Heck it's probably not even that. It's the classic "Pretty, rich girl" vs the "Plane jane" at work here. Asumi is from a rich family and obviously was gifted with good looks from her parents. She dresses in clothes that other people can't afford, obviously knows how to make herself up and does so often. With Korra, well you can't get more Plane Jane than her. She doesn't wear make up (as far as we know), her outfits are more function than fashion, and she a rough neck, belching, always spoiling for a fight tomboy. It is because of the simple fact she is too perfect, and too flat of a character (for the avatar series) to not have SOMETHING else going one. Characters have been simple in the Avatar verse, but any that gets significant screen time (as Asami did) always has something else, usually negative, to flesh them out and balance them for the story. So far all Asami has done is deus ex machina away the contrived money problem for the fire ferrets, look pretty, and act as a leg to the love triangle (without actually doing anything other than looking pretty and having money.) She has very little character, and no character development which is unheard of in the last series, which is what makes her suspicious. Its not because she looks pretty, or because she is a rival in some shipping war (which I hate) but because the very fact she is a shallow character, in a series made by people who don't make shallow characters (at least not ones that interact with the main cast and stick around for more than one episode). If she has no further character development, or any further story investment it will be a case of bad writing that is taking up precious time that could be used WAY more efficiently considering the time crunch.
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Horyo
RP Admin
All your bending are belong to us.
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Horyo on May 16, 2012 4:01:43 GMT -5
Another strange thing about Asami is that, since she's such a big pro-bending fan, wouldn't she know about the Wolfbats' cheating tendencies? I know it goes against the element of surprise for the audience, but couldn't she have warned Mako and the team to watch out for that? The other odd thing to me is that, while the match itself was really exciting/aggravating, the only responses shown to it were from Tenzin, the announcer, and random fans/Tahno's groupies in the crowd. It is just really weird to me that there were no quick shots to Asami (and Hiroshi) as the match was going on, either cheering or complaining, considering how many ties they have to the Fire Ferrets. Based on how quickly Mako deduced it, and the crowd's overall nonchalant attitude towards it, I'd say cheating or bribery in Pro-bending is pretty common. It seems the referees also hold absolute jurisdiction, and the important thing is keeping the crowd entertained. In other news, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the Equalists and Amon in action. The grace Ty Lee brought to chi-blocking has been molded into a new level of battle art.
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