Review: The Legend of Korra “Battle of Zaofu”

Man, that had to hurt.

Spoilers ahead!

Let me do for you what the writers did for you: lull you into a false sense of security. Korra comes back, gets some great Yoda knowledge from Toph, and tries to save Zaofu. Things were a little grim at the end of “Enemy at the Gates,” but it’s okay, Korra is back. At least that’s how Suyin was thinking when Korra suddenly appeared at the front gates. And then Kuvira happened, and launched Korra into next week. Who didn’t see that coming? Well, definitely not me.

Think about it for about a second. If Korra takes out Kuvira six episodes into the season, two things happen next. We would either get six episodes of Korra’s farewell tour, which would be boring as shit, or another person steps up to be the real villain in charge. I am glad that Korra lost to Kuvira, However, I am not sure that this was the exact right time. Now we have to have another three or four episodes of Korra whining about not saving Su and Zaofu, and she has to go on another quest to make herself powerful. If this had to happen, I would have been happier if this happened a few episodes ago before Korra got her groove back from Toph.

What was the point of Korra going through all of that spiritual and metaphysical stuff with Toph, only to get bitched down two episodes later? This is they type of decision that can completely derail a season, and turn it into garbage. We now have to retread Korra going through some more training, and to fight Kuvira again. I just can’t get over the fact that they did this now. That doesn’t take away from the actual fight, because it showed Korra still is doubtful of herself, and can’t handle fighting Kuvira without the Avatar State. “The Battle of Zaofu” put Kuvira on a pedestal, making her able to fight Korra when she isn’t in her Avatar State, and punking her out. She proved, that at that moment, she was not needed. Sounds like something echoed last season, doesn’t it?

The lone bright spot this week was Huan Beifong. This kid went from an angsty emo kid to a hilarious art teacher. The interaction between him and the younger Air Kids was hilarious. Ikki drew something reminiscent of what I could draw, and got all of the praise from Huan, who is an “accomplished artist.” When Huan got to Meelo, who drew a fantastic self portrait that resembles Napoleon, and Huan rips it apart. It was something genuinely funny, unlike the somewhat forced humor between Varrick and Bolin. I’m not necessarily sure Bolin will ever be able to do the thing, because he’s no Zhu-Li.

I have a feeling this is going to come back around to Kuvira being in the Red Lotus. A lot of the motives are the same, and the interaction between Kuvira and Zaheer was really fishy. After rewatching “Venom of the Red Lotus”, the interactions are painfully obvious after the events of Book Four. Zaheer even said that the Red Lotus will go on, and their mission is to make Korra an obsolete solution to an ever present problem. So far, that premonition is coming true. This is a testament to how well the writing is, that they can keep stories and characters from season to season and able to keep a coherent story going through 45 episodes now.

Now, there is one last thing I need to get off my chest. As you probably know, I peruse Tumblr a lot. Of course, I went onto the “Battle of Zaofu” tag, and I read some things that kind of irked me: Kuvira was evil. I’m not entirely sure she’s evil. Evil is the Joker, Bane, Red Skull, Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, and pretty much anyone who gets what they want without any recourse from their actions. Kuvira is doing what she was told to do: reunite the Earth Kingdom. And when she was told to relinquish, she didn’t. Sure, her re-education camps are reminiscent of concentration camps, but she is doing what she had to so her homeland is whole again. She wants one Earth Empire, not a bunch of independent factions. She is doing what she thinks is for the greater good, not just herself. She does reap the benefits of being The Great Uniter, though.

Outside of the fight between Korra and Kuvira, I was not impressed. The planning to put this fight here was rather poor, and just put a lot of extra filler training, self pity scenes. That’s just fantastic. The only thing I can hope for is that Toph shows up, and school’s Korra again. Send Korra back into the swamp, and give her some “Empire Strikes Back” type of training.  But to be completely honest, let Korra lose. Let the Earth Empire be a thing, and do their own thing. Korra is supposed to be the next generation Avatar, but what if she ends up being the final generation Avatar? That’d be a great twist, but something I wouldn’t bank on. This was a let down, and very disappointing. Be prepared, because I am sure that next week we are getting some more self pity from Korra.