Review: The Legend of Korra “The Ultimatum”

What does Zaheer have planned for the Avatar? And has Ba Sing Se completely fallen into chaos? Find out after the jump!

Spoilers!

“The Ultimatum” is a curious case for an episode. It swept what happened in Ba Sing Se under a rug in less than five minutes, to advance the story. I get why the writers did it, because they only have 13 episodes, and that is coming to us next week. It was nice to see the rest of Mako and Bolin’s family make it out of Ba Sing Se, because it’s a hilarious group of characters that enhance any scene they’re in. Between The Last Airbender, and The Legend of Korra, so much time has been spent in Ba Sing Se, only to see it fall in less than 10 minutes between two episodes. That disappointed me deeply.

I have, yet, another grip for Nick’s video player. “The Ultimatum” is full of scenes that would have looked beautiful, if the player was able to play on the right resolution. The scene of the airship leaving Be Sing Se as it’s burning to the ground would have made for a great looking scene. but the fact that the player was barely able to hit 480p. Mind you, I have an upper mid level gaming pc, so watching this on any resolution should be fine.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t that giant sand worm either bury or eat the wreckage that Asami didn’t use for her sand speeder? Also, wouldn’t that giant worm also cover up any tracks that speeder was making? I mean, it chased them for a very long time. This has deus ex machina written all over it. However, it does the job, and air Mako makes it to the Misty Palms Oasis.

Later on in “The Ultimatum,” Korra’s situation with Zaheer started to echo what Aang went through when he had the choice of killing Fire Lord Ozai. When Korra went to the spirit world to Zaheer, she manages to find Iroh. When she says she’s the first Avatar since Wan to not have any prior Avatars to get advice from, Iroh mentions that Zukko was Aang’s most trusted advisor, even though they didn’t have the greatest of starts. When she comes back, she goes to Zukko, and he is more than happy to be Korra’s advisor as well.

Speaking of Zukko, who else had the same reaction Bolin had when Zukko was shown in the trailers leading up to the season premiere? The inner fan boy in me cried out with joy, because there hasn’t been a character that commands a reaction like that. Well, unless the creators do a book 4 of the original The Last Airbender, at least. I am glad to see that Zukko will be sticking around for more than this season (as of now).

“The Ultimatum” goes full throttle about half way through, and gives some dire straits at the Northern Air Temple. . Of course, Korra tried to get a hold of Tenzin as soon as she hears of the ultimatum, but she’s too late. Somehow, Zaheer gets to the Northern Air Temple in about the same amount of time it takes Bolin and Mako to get to the Misty Palms Oasis. Tenzin’s character has always been polarizing, because he has always been overbearing, but has been the one constant stoic figure amongst the sea of chaos that tends to circle Korra. Tenzin finally takes his badass moment in a fight where he takes on Zaheer, while Kya and Bumi take on Ming-Hua and Gazhan. Ming-Hua and Gazhan are too much for Kya and Bumi, but Tenzin is holding his own against Zaheer. It was fantastic to see Tenzin take the ultimatum that Zaheer gave, and spit on it in what seems like his last moments.

The two episodes seem to be linking the events of the season together. After about four episodes, we see the Airbending initiates, the Earth Queen got the air bent right out of her lungs, and Korra is back in Zaofu. The only thing we’re missing is the face to face encounter that Zaheer desperately needs with Korra.

There was a lot of feelings coming out of “The Ultimatum.” There was suspense, humor, action, and a bit of fear for what will become of Tenzin and the Airbenders. Luckily, we don’t have to wait two weeks for the outcome, because Nick will premiere both “Enter the Void” and “Venom of the Red Lotus” next week.

The story in “The Ultimatum” more than makes up for any small plot holes there were to get Bolin and Mako back to the Oasis. Zukko seems to be back in the fold, presumably taking Tenzin’s role (if Tenzin’s going to die, of course). I am hoping the last two episodes focus on Zaheer and Korra finally getting together and fighting, and not rush it like the fall of Ba Sing Se. One would hope, right? If it weren’t for that, this episode would probably get a perfect score.