News:

Main Menu

Legend of Korra Book 3

Started by apygoos, June 20, 2014, 03:01:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ariel

Quote from: Shjade on October 01, 2014, 01:09:36 PM
I'd say book 2 was probably the best all around so far in that it seemed the most "Avatar." Book 1's sorta more X-men style powers vs non-powers riot stuff (and Korra repeatedly gets her ass handed to her and feels sorta not so important in the end), Book 3 starts throwing completely new powers into play out of nowhere (lavabending? what? why?) and again Korra feels sorta more like a VIP that has to be protected than the protagonist pretty frequently. It's a weird dynamic.

Lavabending?

Now I definitely need to watch the series!
Not accepting new RPs

Apologies | Ons/Offs | Finds | Requests + Rumbelle Craving

Karma

Season four starts tomorrow! :) Personally I enjoyed season three more than two. I find lavabending a lot less jarring than
Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide
kaiju Korra. :P

Ariel

Wait.

Season four already?

That's it, LoK binge after I get caught up with Supernatural. *nodnod* I'm farther behind than I thought I was.

Although I'm surprised they're taking LoK to book four... A:TLA only went for three. :-( I miss that show. It was so good.
Not accepting new RPs

Apologies | Ons/Offs | Finds | Requests + Rumbelle Craving

Karma

#28
Yeah, ATLA had three, but the seasons were longer and it will ultimately have more episodes in total (61 vs 52). Korra season one was actually meant to be a miniseries, not a season, and its initial success led Nick to sign them on for three more. That's why the pacing is so much better in seasons 2 and 3; they didn't have to force an ending. As for why they're doing season four so soon after three... well, it's probably related to their contract and wanting out of it. They put Korra to online-only later in season three (not that I can fully blame them, it did get pretty graphic for that channel). I think they just want to be free of the show as it clashes with their image, regardless of how successful it was and is.

Ariel

Quote from: Karma on October 01, 2014, 01:19:52 PM
Yeah, ATLA had three, but the seasons were longer and it will ultimately have more episodes in total (61 vs 52). Korra season one was actually meant to be a miniseries, not a season, and its initial success led Nick to sign them on for three more. That's why the pacing is so much better in seasons 2 and 3; they didn't have to force an ending. As for why they're doing season four so soon after three... well, it's probably related to their contract and wanting out of it. They put Korra to online-only later in season three (not that I can fully blame them, it did get pretty graphic for that channel). I think they just want to be free of the show as it clashes with their image, regardless of how successful it was and is.

Hmm, well that's all good to know! Thanks for all the information. :-)
Not accepting new RPs

Apologies | Ons/Offs | Finds | Requests + Rumbelle Craving

Karma

It's a testament to how far the show has come that I actually kinda like Mako now. *laughs*

Rogue

Quote from: Shjade on October 01, 2014, 01:09:36 PM
I'd say book 2 was probably the best all around so far in that it seemed the most "Avatar." Book 1's sorta more X-men style powers vs non-powers riot stuff (and Korra repeatedly gets her ass handed to her and feels sorta not so important in the end), Book 3 starts throwing completely new powers into play out of nowhere (lavabending? what? why?) and again Korra feels sorta more like a VIP that has to be protected than the protagonist pretty frequently. It's a weird dynamic.

Really? If Water benders can change the state of their elements so easily, is it that hard to make the leap that some Earth benders would be able to do that as well with Lava?

It's not so much a new power as a natural progression of power IMO. It's just rare.

Book 3 plot spoilers
It took a near death experience for Bolin to be able to learn Lava Bending and there are two in the whole world (as far as we know).

Lava bending isn't any more unbelievable than say Blood Bending or Metal Bending or Lightning bending. It just takes a powerful or specific bender or a lot of specific training, like with any of the other cannon ones named.

Karma

Plus, Roku and Sozin were shown heat-bending during ATLA. Bolin also has a possible genetic advantage in the field, being the child of mixed parents. If Mako couldn't shoot lightning, I'd half expect him to have learned lavabending as well. It's one of those inbetween areas, like I'd imagine cloud or mudbending to be - there's enough of both elements for either side to manipulate it, if they have the talent.

Rogue

Quote from: Karma on October 01, 2014, 02:19:13 PM
Plus, Roku and Sozin were shown heat-bending during ATLA. Bolin also has a possible genetic advantage in the field, being the child of mixed parents. If Mako couldn't shoot lightning, I'd half expect him to have learned lavabending as well. It's one of those inbetween areas, like I'd imagine cloud or mudbending to be - there's enough of both elements for either side to manipulate it, if they have the talent.

This as well.

I wonder if Ghazan was of mixed parentage from the 100 years war? I mean, other than those two, the only other lavabenders are avatars.

Also, since the movements needed for lavabending resemble water bending styles, it falls under the idea that all styles are related which is something brought up in AtLA. :)

Karma

I tend to think that bending is much like the Force in this regard. At its core it is a single discipline, and I believe they reference this in the show as spiritbending, which has via various means been divvied up into the four (five, with energybending) elements. If people were to rediscover the "heart" of bending, they'd all be able to bend anything. Avatar does seem to follow the standard high fantasy trope that magic is disappearing from the world, though, with the end of book 2 being a very large bump in that road.

Rogue

I disagree with Avatar following that trope. If anything, bending is even more prevalent and we're seeing more and more powerful benders, with the advent of Metal Bending and Lava Bending and Blood Bending, as well as Lightning bending gaining traction since the Fire Nation (under Zuko and his daughter's rule) have been more about sharing knowledge (I'm assuming with lightning bending being more prevalent in the world).

I don't doubt that anyone could learn all the elements, but I do think that it would have to be gifted. Based on book 2 adventures into the past, I'd say that anyone who's stubborn or powerful enough could learn all the elements. Especially with the spirits having been released.

Karma

I think it used the trope in order to challenge it narratively. We see that, far in the past, spirits were everywhere, and so were the most fantastic creatures such as lion turtles. There was a time when benders continued to learn their arts directly from the relevant source (the moon, etc), but by the time of ATLA it's become quite mundane, especially with the loss of the airbenders. What happens in place of that is a strong uptick in prodigies, perhaps a balancing effect by whatever drives bending in that world. Korra brings it back on a downswing, though, with the modernization of the world and the real support from the public that Amon was able to gather. And then... a brand new spirit explosion.

Rogue

Quote from: Karma on October 01, 2014, 02:52:18 PM
I think it used the trope in order to challenge it narratively. We see that, far in the past, spirits were everywhere, and so were the most fantastic creatures such as lion turtles. There was a time when benders continued to learn their arts directly from the relevant source (the moon, etc), but by the time of ATLA it's become quite mundane, especially with the loss of the airbenders. What happens in place of that is a strong uptick in prodigies, perhaps a balancing effect by whatever drives bending in that world. Korra brings it back on a downswing, though, with the modernization of the world and the real support from the public that Amon was able to gather. And then... a brand new spirit explosion.

The thing is, some one had to learn the arts to pass it onto the next generation. And I think by the time AtLA came along, it had simply become common place.

I mean, there are always going to be people against those in power (especially in the first city in the world where people are allowed to speak freely). I think that's something that needs to be kept in mind regarding republic city. It's a brand new concept of freedom since up until this point there were kings and emperors and tribe leaders. In other parts of the world (as shown in Book 3 especially) there is still no freedom for non-benders and benders just have more power.

I doubt that the modernization of the world (specifically one part of the world considering the state of Ba Sing Se) would seriously affect the "magic" of the world.

Shjade

Quote from: Rogue of TimeyWimey Stuff on October 01, 2014, 02:12:46 PM
Really? If Water benders can change the state of their elements so easily, is it that hard to make the leap that some Earth benders would be able to do that as well with Lava?

Lava bending isn't any more unbelievable than say Blood Bending or Metal Bending or Lightning bending. It just takes a powerful or specific bender or a lot of specific training, like with any of the other cannon ones named.

It's not that it's less believable, it's throwing these new things into the mix without any apparent reason or justification for them. Blood bending, when it was first brought up, was this mythical super-rare only-works-on-a-full-moon special case thing that had a whole episode dedicated to it. Korra book 1 comes around and, oh, yeah, bloodbending's just a thing now, some people can do it so casually they can even pass for non-benders. By the time we hit book 3 we're now just introducing completely new kinds of bending out of nowhere with no one seeming in the least surprised about it. It just feels progressively as if the writers are introducing new powers as they feel like it as opposed to what's important to the plot/the world of the story.

"Hey, what if one of them could bend lava?"
"What? How? What element does that even fall under? Why?"
"Because it's cool!"
"Welp, I'm convinced."

Don't even get me started on "I have an eye in my forehead that causes explosions because Reasons" lady...
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
◕/◕'s
Conversation is more useful than conversion.

Rogue

Quote from: Shjade on October 01, 2014, 06:51:27 PM
It's not that it's less believable, it's throwing these new things into the mix without any apparent reason or justification for them. Blood bending, when it was first brought up, was this mythical super-rare only-works-on-a-full-moon special case thing that had a whole episode dedicated to it. Korra book 1 comes around and, oh, yeah, bloodbending's just a thing now, some people can do it so casually they can even pass for non-benders. By the time we hit book 3 we're now just introducing completely new kinds of bending out of nowhere with no one seeming in the least surprised about it. It just feels progressively as if the writers are introducing new powers as they feel like it as opposed to what's important to the plot/the world of the story.

"Hey, what if one of them could bend lava?"
"What? How? What element does that even fall under? Why?"
"Because it's cool!"
"Welp, I'm convinced."

Don't even get me started on "I have an eye in my forehead that causes explosions because Reasons" lady...

Because that wasn't done during Book 3 of AtLA? Sparky sparky boom boom man? It's not like it's probably a specific clan that's hereditary or something like a lot of other specific abilities. Or that Heat bending isn't an established thing. Really? You're using her to support your bashing of new styles?

There are a LOT of things that weren't necessarily covered in AtLA and so LoK is getting to explore it. It's not like Lavabending wasn't a thing! It might have previously been an Avatar ability but with the tribes intermingling a lot for the first time in a century, it's bound to happen. As I explained it's no different than a water bender learning how to bend Ice or Plants. It's changing a state of matter which has already been established. It just takes a stronger bender to do it/think of it. It was practically thrown in Bolin's face to learn how to do it because he'd otherwise be dead. I'm sure there's a similar backstory for Ghazan.

To be honest, no one's been surprised about it because the more inventive/torturous fanbase has already thought of it.

Also, he wasn't doing it so casually he could pass for a non-bender. He wasn't using bending at any other point in time or advertising that he was a bender. Amon was from a special case, from a family of powerful benders. Yes blood bending was established as a "rare" ability because no one taught the one water bender from the southern water tribe that it exists and the one blood bender other than Katara that we meet probably wasn't exactly the most powerful.

So we have a skill that isn't taught/is probably discouraged in the Northern Water Tribe. Katara isn't about to use it because she hates it. She has also been told it is only possible during the full moon. If you're told something is only possible during a specific time, you are less likely to attempt it at any other time. If you are a powerful bender specifically trained to blood bend when it isn't the full moon (because there was an entire training explanation) you're going to be able to do it. It make sense. You might have to think a bit. But AtLA made you think a bit too. Why shouldn't LoK?

apygoos

for the record, there WAS lava bending in Avatar The Last Airbender/Legend of Aang, but there were only a couple incidents of it. Most notable incident was when Aang was channeling Roku in the fire temple, lavabending open a large chasm and making lava overflow the area.

This also makes me believe the Avatar is capable of all subsets of bending, but, only some innately, and others in the Avatar state.

Sabby

#41
Working my way through Book Three now. I kind of feel like the Bending is just becoming spellcasting. Earthbending has been pretty consistent through all the seasons, and most of the actual rock moving seems to match the Benders stance and movement, but all the other Benders just seem to make shit up at random. There's less convincing Bending and more just "I point my hand at your feet and a tornado picks you up and thrashes you around, but I had my feet spread, so it's still Bending"

Then there's that armless girl. There's no rhyme or reason to anything she does. The scene where she just makes glass cutting tools and throws darts with water... without moving a muscle. Is that even Bending any more? This is getting dangerously close to 1960s Spiderman, and that guy made a functioning airboat out of web.