Book 4: Battle of Zaofu

[Musogato]

Discussion for episode six of Book 4: Balance, Battle of Zaofu.

[Nashk Tategami]

Well I guess I will kick off the discussion!

This was probably among my least favorite episodes so far. It's not that the episode was bad really, it's just I hate seeing Korra fail.

She fails to adhere to her no fighting promise. She casts aside her hard won teachings on changing her perspective and follows blindly down the path of destruction. Then she fails again by being unable to follow through with the destruction.

In doing so Korra may have permanantly damaged the image of the Avatar. People were probably already questioning why it took so long for the Avatar to recover, and then for her to return after so long only to be stomped by the Earth Empire? This is going to be hard for Korra to recover. It will probably take someone else to step and take on the mantle of restoring peace.

That said Korra isn't the only one to fail. Suyin betrayed the Earth kingdom by not stepping up during the Chaos. She then fails to adhere to a temporary truce, attacks a nations leader in her sleep, and fails to kill her! I feel the writing was off here. Like they are forcing Suyin to have this role of a stoic, stubborn character who refused to answer the call. It feels off and forced. Maybe it will get better later?

On the bright side the writers certainly know how to write an entertaining antagonist! As much as I hate Kuvira for what she is doing I can not deny she is charismatic and very likeable when you don't see the ugly aftermath of her rule. She is strong, adheres to the rules (of course she makes them now) and knows how important it can be to lead from the front.

What do you guys think?