Korra Civil Wars, Part 2 Review

Previous Korra reviews:
Ep. 13+14: "Rebel Spirit" and "The Southern Lights"
Ep. 15: "Civil Wars, Part 1"



As always SPOILERS!

_{(NOTE: Don't mind the photobucket bandwidth thing, it'll reset itself in a day or so.)}



"I'm sorry, Korra, you'll never see your father again."



Eh, this episode could have been better. I mean, it's not bad bad and fairly decent, but there's a lot of big niggles that I really didn't like.

Unalaq is probably the big one. His antagonistic status is pretty much a no-brainer, but he at least spun circles around the cast (read: Korra) that I could willingly give them the benefit of the doubt and think there's more to this guy than typical manipulative villain. I made myself a theory (one I don't think I ever said in previous Korra reviews) that Unalaq may have been a different person twenty years back than he is now. Tonraq was much more brash and blunt during his youth, traits he still exhibits in the present, but with better control due to his experience since. I kind of wanted to believe Unalaq may have been much meeker and submissive in his younger years with brains to counter his brother's brawn. Perhaps his inner strength and deceptiveness grew as he got older while Tonraq learned to control his aggression (ya know, parallels and all that.) Long story short, I like the idea that despite their sibling rivalry, Unalaq and Tonraq were by all means close without any hit of backstabbing whatsoever.

Except that's exactly the case and this whole Cain and Abel shtick just got even more predictable. Unalaq wants power and the only way to get Chief position is to trick his father and brother to kick the latter out of his kingdom. Unalaq never confirms he wants power, but he never denies it either and by the time he retaliates against Korra, I think the narrative more or less clinches it. Man, talk about a letdown. We're really going with this? We're really going to have Unalaq be a power-hungry baddie? That's…boring. It doesn't help that the revelation came so quickly. It doesn't help that Korra gets the answer she needs from the judge; it's so damn contrived because of how convenient the answer seems to pop out of his mouth (not that the scheming itself wouldn't make sense—Unalaq changed that dude's mind pretty damn effectively for it to not be fake.) Unalaq pales in comparison to Book One's villain: Amon worked because he spent most of his time as a mysterious extremist with savvy know-how. Unalaq's true goal is revealed in just four episodes.



I want to be casually optimistic. Despite the quickness of the plot, there can still be something exceptional at the end. Maybe a sudden plot twist about him. Maybe something else he has yet to reveal. We still don't know what he wants with the spiritual world and he even claims he doesn't need Korra to open the Northern Portal which is a cause for alarm (unless he's bluffing and secretly waiting for Korra to open it, then pop in and enter the Spirit World.) Book Two has fourteen episodes, so there's still ten more they can explore possibilities with. I'm just afraid it won't come to that and all we know of Unalaq will just be this.

The Tenzin subplot was pretty subpar, too. "Civil Wars, Part 1" excellently dug into Aang's kids and their dilemmas. Here, they just end on the whole "family must stick together no matter what" angle without really delving into it. Eventually the family reunites and that's pretty much it. I DID like Bumi talking to his father's statue. It's a short scene, but it effectively emphasizes why he's conflicted. Imagine being the first born child of the Avatar and having to live up to daddy's legacy just because you're the first kid. Worse for Bumi, he's not an Airbender let along a Bender, period. Joining the United Force and reaching a rank as high as he did was likely the best he felt he could do and even then, he has doubts. Kya's reassurance helps him through and though I wished the scene was a bit longer, it's a good one nonetheless.

Still not caring for Bolin's role. Points for him for trying to break up with Eska, but it all amounts to a load of nothing; Eska forces marriage on him and resumes treating him like shit. I am beginning to think I just hate the Comic Relief Physically Abused Butt Monkey archetype because if they don't deserve to be treated like garbage, why do TV shows keep doing this thinking it's funny? This isn't funny. Eska's abusive and the whole thing reeks of unfortunate implication. I bet you if the genders were reserved, it'd suddenly be a whole lot less funny because double standards. To the show's credit, Bolin knows this is wrong. Asami and Mako knows it's wrong and tells Bolin to cut Eska off. The creators at least acknowledged this is NOT OKAY. But it doesn't do a damn good for Bolin's character regardless. Do you remember when he had dignity while being a funny character? Because I miss that.

Also, I'm a little worried about the Avatar State. I made a theory in the "Rebel Spirit/The Southern Lights" review that Korra may be able to control her's better than Aang, but at the expanse of the raw, unpredictable nature the latter exhibits. Indeed, in this episode, all Korra does is make a tidal wave large enough to push the ships away—they don't even topple, they're just gently pushed aside. It's a far cry from Giant Koizilla Aang. But now I'm settled with a burning question: why doesn't Korra whip out her Avatar State whenever she damn well feel like it? Why not trigger it every time she fights? The Avatar State is suppose to be the most vulnerable part of the Avatar and if she's killed, that's the end of the lineup, but the show never seems to emphasize the danger behind that. Nope, Korra activates the damn thing and carte blanche. This is especially troubling because I DO remember the DVD commentary for the Avatar pilot where the creators specifically stated they didn't want Aang turn on his Avatar State willy-nilly like some superpower. They wanted to emphasize the rawness whenever he did go and keep Aang from overpowering his opponents. But this is exactly what Korra's doing and it cheapens the Avatar State in the process.



Varrick's the only one I enjoyed from start to finish. Dude was hilarious from the start, but he takes it up a notch in this episode and proves he's made of sterner stuff. I mean, he helped Korra's team free her father AND get the hell out of the South Pole to do some world-saving…all while wearing a platypus bear suit. Unlike Unalaq, I get the feeling I'm not 100% sure I should trust this man. I feel like he could fit in Asami's role as a rich, but benevolent millionaire sans the sanity, yet he's proven to be a shady son of a bitch through bribery and desire to secure his wealth (which is probably why he started the rebellion in the first place; he likely has his interest above first.) Supplementary materials also state he deals with gang members, too. Hell, he may not necessarily go full baddie route, but Varrick may arguably be more of an Anti-Hero than actual hero and I find him super interesting because of it because I can't help but think how far he'd go to help the heroes as long as it keeps benefiting him.

Otherwise, it saddens me to say this, but I feel like I'm walking on eggshells when it comes to the character. It's like I feel it's still too early for me to say how they'll be handle their characters. I think Book Two is doing loads better to make up for Book One's crappy finale right now, but hey, remember when Book One had a great opener before it petered out to shitville? I can't help but think Book Two won't repeat the same mistakes. I don't want to say this to Legend of Korra given its predecessor's legacy, but I have to say it exactly because of it. Korra is a better show than a LOT of cartoons airing right now, but in terms of Avatar: The Last Airbender, it really isn't near as good.





I actually don't have any today. Well, other than Ikki making ridiculously cute names for the Sky Bison babies. Ummm...oh, well, I noticed this back during Book Two's premiere, but it's nice to see Mako and Bolin sporting winter jackets. They lacked any during "Endgame" and it bothered the shit out of me because they're in the South Pole and they'll freeze to death!



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Discovery (A Transformers Animated Fancomic): Read the entire thing here. More updated as the series progresses. Placed there for archival purpose.

Chess Piece (A Danny Phantom Fancomic):
An AU Danny Phantom comic. It's been canceled, but for those morbidly curious to read this convoluted train wreck, the link is here.



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