Season 2, A New Spiritual Age

[Paraiba Ocean]

Discussion for tonight's episode, A New Spiritual Age

[Dr. Joe]

I can't find any redeeming qualities in Unalaq. I thought he was just going to be some Tarlock clone but he is way worse than that. Unless he's just being misled by Vaatu, this guy is worse than Ozai. Literally Hitler.

Seeing Uncle Iroh again just made my day. He's still dropping pearls of wisdom even from beyond the grave.

It sounds like he entered the spirit world just before his body's death and because of the way he came to the spirit world, I'm guessing not everyone become a spirit when they die. Thoughts?

[Paraiba Ocean]

I'm kind of just hoping there's some sort of justification for what Unalaq is doing. Aren't we overdue for some sort of melodramatic villain's explanation for what he's doing? It just seems a little one dimensional for him to just be in it just for the darkness; Vaatu HAS to have offered him some sort of bargain or said something to sway him to his side... a dead wife? A stillborn child? Something? C'mon.

I don't think Avatar has really ever touched on the afterlife tbh. I think we can assume that in highly spiritual areas, it's somehow possible to see or interact with the dead - sort of in a farplane esque way, for those of you FFX players - but I suppose that would be how Iroh did it. I wonder what happens to the others who perhaps choose not to go to the Spirit World.

[teenj12]

This was a really good episode. Uncle Iroh returning was a huge surprise and a good one. I really liked the scenes between him and Baby!Korra. It was good to see the library again and to see what became of the profressor . I was genuinely scared when Unalaq showed up at the library. I hate that Owl for setting Jinora up. The ending battle with Korra and Unalaq was sad. The fact that Unalaq was going to kill a little girl was just sickening. I was so afraid of what would happen to Korra. She was practically defenseless without her bending. The final scene and the look on Tenzin and Korra's faces...just speechless. I really hope they find Jinora.

[ILZ]

First off I'm so happy we got to see Iroh again. He didn't appear to have aged a lot since ATLA so I'm assuming he joined the spirit world shortly after the series. My theory is that any mortal who has a strong enough spiritual connection to enter the spirit world would then be able to stay there. And it seems that even if you managed to get there, if you didn't have the right mentality it would be a pretty miserable place. But it sure was nice to see Iroh enjoying his "new life". I loved his interactions with little Korra (who is just too cute). I do wish we had got a little explanation on why she changed to a child. Speaking of changing, it's really sad how upset I get when a cute little spirit becomes dark.

I believe that Unalaq was offered some kind of bribe by Vaatu. A sell your soul to the devil sort of thing. It does seem weird that we haven't been told what his motivation is though. I think it would really make the story stronger if we knew. I just hope that it's not something that is going to make us sympathize with him because, like others have pointed out, we already had that with Tarrlok.

I was hoping that we would get to see Raava make an appearance (through the Avatar state obviously). Poor Jinora, I hope Tenzin is able to save her. I think that the fact that he resented her ability to enter the spirit world is going to make this even harder. So I think it would be great if he was the one to save her.

I do find the whole Harmonic Convergence storyline to be quite intriguing. I just feel like it seems a little rushed. I would have liked them to have spent two seasons on this because there is so much that could be explored if the time was there.

[Paraiba Ocean]

I think the idea of Korra changing into a child was supposed to reflect her fear and confusion. I think this was supposed to be the penultimate chapter in Korra's development this season. In the beginning, she was abusing her spiritual ability (Avatar state), hasty, impulsive, and brash. I think seeing her as a child was supposed to represent how her spiritual growth was sort of stunted at a young age. The last time we saw Korra as a child, she was thrashing about, bending 3/4 elements and saying, "I'm the Avatar and you gotta deal with it!" From then on, a group of old fogies were making choices for her and left her sort of stunted and the only thing she knew was she was the Avatar and she was supposed to be the bridge between the Spirit and Mortal world, yet for all their attempts, no one really taught her how to be that bridge. And yeah, she did learn a lot from Tenzin, and she made a huge stride when she remembered the story of Wan and learned of the origins and true meanings of what that "bridge" is supposed to mean. But even when she walked into the spirit world and encountered those... ferret things... her natural response was hostile and violent. She attempted to bend at them, and then when she got separated from Jinora - who she was desperately depending on to navigate the Spirit World - and ended up in a scary dark forest, she got scared and felt lost. So I think when Iroh finally told her, "there is light inside of you," it was more than just, "You're the Avatar and you do important stuff." And when she changed those dark spirits back to normal, returned the dragon bird (?) to its nest, and eventually returned to her adult form, it was showing that Korra acknowledged and realized she's more than just an Avatar, she's a good person and she has the strength and knowledge within herself to be the Avatar.

Just a guess though lol.

I would like to believe that Korra and Raava (perhaps even Wan) will communicate with one another before the season is over. But I do agree - I think that the Harmonic Convergence could have been a really interesting 2-season arc. Oh well!

[Alouncara]

I'm thinking Unalaq has hidden intentions that we've yet to see or fully understand.
He mentions to Jinora in the library that there's more to it than just setting Vaatu free.
He says, "Don't believe everything you read." When she says that "Vaatu will destroy everything."
I have this suspicion that Vaatu thinks he is puppeting Unalaq, but Unalaq has his own plans.

It seems like Unalaq is in it for his own ambition and pushing his world view upon everyone. Ever since he was a kid he's been working his way up this power tree. Getting is brother banished, etc.

I personally think he's a deeper villain than Ozai or even Amon was (I'm still iffy on Amon's motive... If someone has a good explanation, I'd love to hear it). Ozai was born into power with a goal given to him by his grandfather. He wasn't necessarily new or radical if you know what I mean.

I don't know how to explain it, but I just have this feeling that Vaatu is being played. Or at least Unalaq thinks he's going to play him.

Maybe Unalaq intends to release Vaatu and do his fancy water bending on him, but it all fails and "Darkness Falls". OR he wants to become a Dark version of the Avatar (who can only bend water?) so he tries to merge his soul with Vaatu's like Wan and Raava?

[ILZ]

^I've never thought about Unalaq playing Vaatu. I could definitely see him at least trying to something like that. It would make for an interesting story. It seems to me that Unalaq has always been able to manipulate the situation to help himself rise to power, so I could see where he would believe that he would be able to somehow double cross Vaatu. I don't really see it ending too well for him if that is the case though.

As far as merging with Vaatu, I don't see Vaatu agreeing to merge with any human if he is released. Yes Raava is still powerful as the Avatar, but she merged with Wan because she was losing her strength and it was the only option. And being merged means that her power is always contingent on the mortal body she inhabits. For example, Korra was completely unable to unleash her Avatar spirit for 17 years. I don't see Vaatu wanting to surrender that kind of power.