Not much going on at the Lair tonight; we’ve been binge-watching Book 1 of Legend of Korra<\/i>, now that the Korrasami Is Canon after-parties are in full swing.<\/p>\n
And, y’know, even as a very happy Korrasami shipper, I really gotta say two things. One: Bolin and Korra were kind of adorable together. They really were. I’d kind of forgot that, and it’s a lot of fun watching that all happen again. Sure, they’re better as drinking buddies, but that’s still adorable.<\/p>\n
And two: I’m sorry, but Korra and Mako were terrible<\/eM> for each other. They just were. I thought that at the time, and I think it again in rewatch. They bring out the worst in each other – and the people around them, except for Asami – all the damn time<\/em>. And I’m not even blaming Mako. The dynamic is just kind of toxic. They spark off each other, sure, but seriously, these sparks set the wrong kind of fire.<\/p>\n Also, I don’t care whether they said they weren’t writing it in book one, you add a little blush tone on Korra when Asami is all over her after the tournament semifinals in “The Spirit of Competition,” and that<\/em> would be our first hint. Not Book 3. Book one<\/em>.<\/p>\n Korra shys from spiritual and emotional issues and wants to charge in with everything<\/em>. Korra’s and<\/em> Tenzin’s frustrations they haven’t yet dealt with. Mako and Korra making a bad kind of fire. Korra and Asami’s then-crackship being not such a reach<\/em>. Benders and non-benders being so out of balance – with our Avatar quite atypically later falling in love with a non-bending technologist.<\/p>\n Which all comes back to the theory that I had that Book 1 would be better in retrospect. Specifically, as Books 3 and 4 have progressed, I’ve had the thought that the characters in Book 1 and how they work with (and against) each other would make more sense in the complete context.<\/p>\n Knowing the destination, all of these mixed emotional signals came over time to form a prelude<\/em>, carrying a set of themes<\/em> which came to be addressed in both general, and specifics, over time. Again and again, this whole series has been about dealing with the scars of the past – revisiting political<\/em> scars of our world, and personal<\/eM> psychological scars of characters.<\/p>\n I like Book 1 much better after<\/em> having read The Promise<\/i>, which tells us more about how Aang’s life progressed in certain key emotional ways after the end of The Last Airbender. Korra is dealing with Aang’s<\/eM> issues, too. I like Book 1 much better after finding out more about the Gaang’s kids in general, and how the traumatising dangers and adventures of their childhood affected their parenting and children, and how their issues were addressed in Books 2-4, where we learned about all that<\/eM> history. I like Book 1 better knowing better that each year’s Big Problem was an interpretation of one or another political extremism of the last century, instead of just skimming an idea for cheap drama.<\/p>\n