Review: The Legend of Korra “The Metal Clan”

With the Earth Queen in her rear view, it looks like some Metalbending is in the future for Korra.

So, it seems like Korra likes making enemies everywhere, and the only people she hasn’t pissed off yet has been her teammates, and Lin Beifong. My guess is that Korra’s next destination will kick her out by episode 7.

Spoilers Below!

Well, it seems like the group is resting a bit, much to the dismay of Lin, who wants her back in the air. There’s a call on the radio about a new Airbender in Zaofu, home of the Metal Clan, but Lin wants nothing to do with going to that place. Korra tells her she’s going anyway, so Lin pouts back to the ship. They make it to the city, which is made entirely of metal. Lin seems more withdrawn than normal, and Korra notices something strange. They touch down, and everyone leaves, but Lin wants no one knowing she is here. Aiwei meets the team on the landing pad, where they are ushered down the elevator.

At Airbender Island, Ikki and Meelo are showing the new Airbenders around, when a stranger with ominous music comes through the door. At Zaofu, Team Korra is getting the sightseeing tour of the city, when they come across the statue of Toph Beifong, the first Metalbender. You may know her from The Last Airbender, you know, the blind badass? Bolin wanted to meet her, but she hasn’t been seen in quite a long time. She decided to travel the world on a path of enlightenment. They make it to the new Airbender’s house, which is a Metalbender’s equivalent to a palatial mansion. They walk in to a bunch of Metalbenders doing a performance piece that looks inspired by a mix of Cirque du Soleil and wire work.

The leader breaks practice, and is introduced by Aiwei as Su Yin, the patriarch of the Metal Clan. Su knows that Korra was lying about Lin being on the ship. She goes on to say that she is Lin’s sister. That brings the group all the way back to the ship. Apparently, Lin has nothing to say to Su, because Su is only Lin’s half sister. Lin and Su keep arguing about who tore their family apart, which gets the group nowhere. The real reason that the group is there is that Su’s daughter is the new Airbender! And Lin is so happy.

Su takes the group back to her mansion, where her sons Wing and Wei are playing Powerdisk. It’s a game they made up on their own. They keep going into a metal sculpture yard, where they meet Huan. Huan is your stereotypical gothy artist who is so angsty when people don’t get him. Moving on, they meet Opal, who seems a little smitten by Bolin.

Su wants Korra to train her at Zaofu, but Korra wants her to go to the Northern Air Temple. Su dismisses the idea, and tells them that they all have guest houses, and they are to meet for dinner because the cook will apparently make taste buds explode. Later, Korra starts to train Opal, who is very timid. Korra goes through the motions of basic Airbending, and Opal seems to be picking it up really quickly.

Back at Air Temple Island, Meelo is putting the new trainees through that circle of rotating curtains that gave Korra problems in season one. The ominous guy goes right through with no problem. I know this is probably obvious, but I’m saying that the guy is Zaheer. Meanwhile, it’s nighttime in Zaofu, and the city’s metal lotus petals are sealing the city’s pods off. At Su’s main hall, dinner is served. They have a lot to go through, and it seems all top notch. No, really, the list is long, and the cook went pretty fast.  We meet Baatar, Su’s husband, and her oldest son. Lin keeps the awkward going with her jabs, and Opal keeps becoming more and more smitten with Bolin.

Su asks Korra how rebuilding the Air Nation is going, and Korra tells Su about the Earth Queen. She’s apparently hated in Zaofu. I have no arguments here. After some more jabs by Lin, Lin almost starts a fight in the hall. The special guest arrives, and Varrick is back! He’s heading Su’s new technology department, which really pisses off Lin to the point where Lin storms off.

We get some bro talk about Opal and and Bolin, and how Opal may be Bolin material. Elsewhere, Korra is marveling over a model of the city, when Su walks in. We get some insight into Lin and Su’s childhood, which Toph made sure was the exact opposite of hers. They both ended up fighting for Toph’s attention, and Toph wasn’t happy. Su traveled the world to find happiness, and she realized that a family is what would do it.

Bolin meets up with Opal, and he is acting weird. Opal tells Bolin that she likes him, but to stop trying so hard. Korra steals Opal away before things got more awkward. At Air Temple Island, Zaheer is creeping in Tenzin’s study, when Ikki finds him reading a poem by Guru Laghima from a talisman. Kya gets Ikki to go back to sleep, and talks to Zaheer a bit, saying he sure knows a lot about Airbending culture. Kya puts two and two together, and realizes he’s Zaheer. He makes a break for it, but Kya brings him to the ground.White Lotus members show up to assist, but they’re defeated easily. Kya’s back up, but Zaheer makes her face plant on the side of the building.

Korra brings Opal to talk to Lin, who seems rather standoffish. Korra hopes that Opal will open Lin up a bit. Lin just chases Opal out, and Korra gives some harsh love, saying Lin will always be a bitter, lonely old woman. And I think this is the first time, where Lin shows some emotion by crying as Korra leaves.

I got to give it to Nickelodeon. they are going at those leaks last month with both guns blazing. Their promo after the episodes attack the leaks, and I feel really bad for any person who is going to be streaming. That promo would be my way to call for blood on streamers and the leaks. Way to go, Nick!

As for the episode, I’ve been dying to know more about what happened to Toph after The Last Airbender, and why Lin was such a hard ass. Toph was rebellious, but I guess she got the righteous stick up her ass in the time between shows. I found it rather funny that her two kids ended up being personifications of Toph’s two lives: Her rebellious side in Su, and her lawful side in Lin. Korra finally laying into Lin about how she’s been treating her family was long overdue. I thought that would have happened on the airship. But that last minute or so was worth it in of itself.

This episode was really well written, more so than last episode. The episode is also the opposite of “In Harm’s Way,” by being more about exposition, and less about action and intrigue. That’s good, because you can’t have all action and no plot, because then you turn into Bleach. Again, the structure that the writers have in place for this season is very sturdy, and gives the second act to this story a great start.

On a lesser note, I want to touch on Zaheer. At first, I wasn’t sure if that was him or not. But as the episode progressed, I realized it was. The writers got me on that, because he had no beard or long hair. Now he really looks like Henry Rollins. Speaking of new voices, Anne Heche as Su worked out really well. She plays the calm free spirit, because she is a free spirit herself. She’s going to be around for a bit, so that means we can get more of Heche going forward. Getting Grey DeLisle, the voice of Azula in The Last Airbender, to play Ming-Hua was just the icing on the cake. I concede, guys.

This episode was a great counterpoint to “In Harm’s Way,” and is the next in the line of great episodes for the season thus far.