"Legend of Korra" pilot up on Korranation.com

[Steve]

The first two episodes of Legend of Korra are up three weeks early. Man, I already love this show.

[Batman]

For those living in the real world US, at any rate.

[frigidmagi]

Like it isn't on Youtube or bittorrent Batman.

[Batman]

I didn't say I couldn't find a way to get my hands on it now did I.
And the situation appears to be somewhat confusing-'US only' would've been easily explained, I run into that with youtube on a regular basis-'Yadda yadda Sony yadda licensing fees yadda yadda'. But apparently those videos were available to some australians but not others (one guy over at SDN from Tasmania ran into the exact same problems I did) and a dude in Scotland had no problems at all.

[LadyTevar]

The first two finally made their debut on NickToons here in the US.

WOW. Just... wow. Great Animations that show how far they've come with the bigger budget. Republic City is gorgeous! A beautiful Steampunky NYC of the 1920s, with radios and streetcars and Oriental-themed Ford Model-Ts. Then, there is Pro-Bending; a team sport where trio of Fire, Earth, and Water-Benders face off against other teams. Very dynamic and visual as the teams compete to force the other off the playing field. Not surprising someone as headstrong and aggressive as Korra is drawn to it.

No, Korra is NOT Aang. She is more like Toph, ready to get out and mix it up with people. However, she is the Avatar, and her speech to the press of Republic City shows she might be green, but she knows Republic City needs her.

The cameos so far: Katara, who seems to have been Korra's water mentor. Katara obviously doesn't get to see Tenzin and his family often, and that makes her sad. (BTW: Nice touch with the "Zuko's Mother Mystery". Tenzin's siblings Kya and Bumi are also yet to be seen)

Lin BeiFong and her metal-bending police force are going to be interesting. Lin is as hard-ass as her mother and does NOT like people (even Avatars) trying to play vigilante.

Tenzin and his family are lovingly protrayed. Pema's wish for a Non-Bender is honest, and I think a very interesting lead-in to the Anti-Bender attitude that we see in more depth in the Park. The children are all unique, although I think the little boy is Aang's silly side taken to ridiculous extremes. We'll see if he 'grows up'.

I do like the fact that Mako, the head of the FireFerret team and their FireBender, was named as a tribute to Uncle Iroh's voice actor MAKO. So far, I think he bears the name well. Of course, we'll have to see his attitude on Tea. ;)

[Steve]

Given Meelo is like 2 or 3 years old, his behavior isn't unexpected. I'm finding myself liking Jinora the most. "I will make no such promises" indeed.

Alas, poor Katara. Given the VA they picked is the veteran Eva St. Clair, I'm wondering if we'll see more of her or if she'll be left to loneliness off-screen. Ms. St. Clair did a good job verbalizing Katara's isolation when she speaks to Korra on the night of her escape. She's lost her husband, she's lost her brother, "many" of her friends (a curious line, makes me wonder if we'll be seeing Toph or Haru or someone else later in the series), and her children are all grown up and have, presumably, all left to pursue their fortunes elsewhere. (Or perhaps even worse...) Tenzin is living his own life and has his own family half a world away. Katara is, for all intents and purposes, alone.

I do wonder if she was really Korra's water-bending teacher, though. It seemed like the Firebending Test came just after her arrival, given Katara's remark of "She's strong" seems to indicate she's seeing Korra for the first time, or at least the first time in a long time.

I liked a good point raised on SDN. Korra is completely different from Aang, even in fighting style. Aang was an evader. He moved around his opponents, caused them to waste their energy on fruitless attacks or to hit each other just as often as he actually struck them. OTOH, Korra doesn't fight like this (it's even why she struggled with Pro bending). She fights head-on, taking hits and focusing more on dishing them back herself.

[frigidmagi]

You know... I think Amon tipped his hand. I mean I'm sure Korra bought his bullshit, but I sir, am not a terrified 16 year old girl whose just got beat by 30 ninjas (by the dude, bringing 30 ninjas to a one on one duel? Tacky, very Tacky, the correct response would have been to blow the island up, YOU FAIL!). No, I am instead a cranky mature war vet with to much caffeine in his system.

Bluntly. I smell fear and it isn't Korra's. I call that Amon is scared of the Avatar. I call that he's worried or knows that he can't take away her bending. I also call his fear that Korra would beat him senseless in a fight, suggesting that he isn't as hardcore as his ninjas and Lt Sparky. That speech of his was all bullshit and meant to throw Korra off and honestly? It might very well work.

Also, the politician guy? Someone seal him in a cave. A very deep cave full of wolfbats. His greasiness, it offends me (what kind of guy wears girls perfume anyways?).

I'm gonna go into greater depth later, I need some sleep and then to finish my homework.

[Steve]

It might be that he's uncertain of whether he can take away the bending of the Avatar, the incarnation of the planet's metaphysical forces. He's probably noticed the fear he's put into her and wants that to grow even stronger by having had her in his power.

There's more to this than just "I can take your bending away". Amon knows it's not just Republic City he has to deal with. He has to fight the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom as well, if he's to create a bender-less world. I think we're going to be finding out just how he intends to fight Benders en masse later in the series.

And really, that's assuming he's really after a bender-less world and not playing a different game....

Oh, and, I'm totally calling it that Amon and Tarlakk are in cahoots to some extent. Knowing the latter's ambition, I suspect he's being manipulated by Amon while trying to manipulate Amon in turn (but failing, because Vetinari this guy ain't).

[frigidmagi]

It might be that he's uncertain of whether he can take away the bending of the Avatar, the incarnation of the planet's metaphysical forces. He's probably noticed the fear he's put into her and wants that to grow even stronger by having had her in his power.

I don't think he's uncertain. I think he knows utterly that he can't take Korra's powers away. As for the fear? Big whop. He could have disappeared her and removed the Avatar from play, which would strike fear into everyone's heart. If he had rendered the Avatar powerless or if she had simply not come back from the duel, people would have been wetting themselves. Amon would have been the guy who took on the Avatar head to head and won. Without bending. The Freak Out would have been turned to 11.

I think we can all agree that he won't kill her until his victory is complete and total. Killing the Avatar is always a bad idea, it just means that the Avatar will come back in 16 years pissed off. Commander Zhao had the right idea when you want to deal with an Avatar, you chain them up and barely feed them. This removes the Avatar from the field of play... For Decades.

There's more to this than just "I can take your bending away". Amon knows it's not just Republic City he has to deal with. He has to fight the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, and the Earth Kingdom as well, if he's to create a bender-less world. I think we're going to be finding out just how he intends to fight Benders en masse later in the series.

And really, that's assuming he's really after a bender-less world and not playing a different game....

Not enough information. For all we know there are chapters of this moment all across the Earth Kingdom. We know Republic City is more advanced (it seems almost wildly so) then the Water Tribe Korra hails from (or at least the area Korra is from). Republic City seems to be the most advanced place on the planet, making it damn important to either take or have wrapped up in it's own problems (there's a thought this whole thing is a distraction).

[LadyTevar]

What interested me the most were the flashbacks to Aang (with Beard?!). After the "off-hand" comment made regarding Aang's handling of another trouble maker, I have to wonder if there is a connection.

[Charon]

I just noticed that Amon had golden eyes. :)

[Steve]

So he's a Sith Lord too? Just great.