In the fifth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, Team Avatar visits Zaofu in order to pick up a new airbender, but unearths family drama in the process; Zaheer tries a new technique for getting closer to Korra. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What an incredible episode, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I HAVE SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT.<\/p>\n
The Metal Clan<\/b><\/p>\n
Where do I even start? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this an entire city built of metal, inspired by the work that Toph began decades before. AN ENTIRE CITY MADE OF METAL. And the writers for this show take this concept and give us a fully-fleshed-out world, one where magnetism and metalbending meet. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still in awe of Zaofu! No place in this world looks like this, and as Team Avatar spent more time within it, I was continually blown away.\u00c2\u00a0This<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is the legacy that Toph left behind before she disappeared to find spiritual enlightenment. (If she comes back, I may bawl.)<\/p>\n
However, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Metal Clan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d offers up another legacy that Toph created, intentionally or not. Like the backstory for Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya, both Suyin and Lin did not have the best relationship with their mother. Initially, though, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Lin is so resistant to visiting Zaofu or socializing with her half-sister and her family. Look, Lin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always been an angry character, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the things I like a lot about her. I admire that she keeps her anger on the surface. (I am quietly one of the angriest people you will ever meet.) So, I went into this not just wanting to know why Lin resented Suyin, but interested in hearing her side of things. Lin does not dislike things just for the sake of it; her rage is always rooted in\u00c2\u00a0something<\/i>.<\/p>\n
So what was it here? Did she resent that Suyin achieved prominence in the city their mother helped create? I suspected that might be the case, but then we get that painfully awkward dinner sequence, and I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so sure I knew what was going on. First of all: VARRICK AND ZHU LI. WHAT THE HOLY HELL, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Their presence exacerbates Lin even further, and she harps on Suyin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apparent hypocrisy for allowed Varrick within the palace. But why that? Is Lin just focusing on anything that will allow her to direct her anger towards Suyin?<\/p>\n
At the very least, we\u00c2\u00a0do<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0get to hear Suyin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side of things, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 sad. Really sad. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an easy thing to know that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve disappointed your parents, and it sounds like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what happened with Toph and her daughters. I can totally see Toph being the kind of mother who wanted her daughters to have openness and freedom. But did she really act disappointed in them when they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t turn into what she wanted? I believe Suyin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take on things, which certainly explains some of the tension present whenever Suyin and Lin were in the same room. But that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t explain everything, does it? Why does Lin believe that Suyin is responsible for this relationship going awry?<\/p>\n
I had hoped the final confrontation between Lin, Korra, and Opal would shed light on this. BUT NOPE. Good god, that scene is probably the most awkward thing this show has ever done. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brutally honest, made all the worse by Lin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cold rejection of Opal and Korra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vicious insults laid at Lin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feet. What happened? What made this so terrible for them??? I NEED TO KNOW.<\/p>\n
Zaheer<\/b><\/p>\n
The more I think about Zaheer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infiltration of the\u00c2\u00a0Air Temple Island, the creepier I find it. I was able to figure out it was him early on (since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so familiar with Henry Rollins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice), but that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to the detriment of the story. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a common suspense technique: clue the audience in to the ticking time bomb, then set it center stage. When will the other characters realize what purpose this person serves? Zaheer creepily tries to assimilate in with the other airbenders for most of this episode. I say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153creepily\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not very good at being undercover at all.<\/p>\n
So what did he want? To see if he could snatch the Avatar out of the Temple? To gather intelligence on the airbenders and Korra? He seemed rather eager to move on to the Northern Air Temple if Korra was going to be there, so what gives? Was he hoping Korra would come\u00c2\u00a0back<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to him? Regardless of his mysterious plans, can we talk about how FLAGRANT this asshole is??? He cuts off his beard and shaves his head, walks right into the airbender camp, trains alongside everyone for days, and then bounces once Kya recognizes him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so RIDICULOUS, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing it. But he clearly gives zero fucks about anyone and anything, and that makes him a million times more intimidating.<\/p>\n
Seriously, this season is SO GOOD so far. MORE PLEASE.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Metal Clan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – Please help book\/finalize the Mark Does Stuff European Tour!<\/a> In the fifth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra, Team Avatar visits Zaofu in order to pick up a new airbender, but unearths family drama in the process; Zaheer tries a new technique for getting closer to … Continue reading
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