r/legendofkorra • u/Future-Flatworm-7313 • 13h ago

Discussion Will always love how Book 1 outlines Korra's earthly attachment to her bending.

A lot of the subtext of Book 1 (and the finale) is lost on a lot of people, but I think it's such a masterful way of breaking down the power fantasy created by the original series/fandom.

The fans (and Korra) place such a high value on bending strength, which is why Amon was such a great first antagonist, due to Korra identifying so heavily with her bending prowess. And having it taken away in the finale fully frees her to unlock her airbending, since it was her attachment/fear of losing her bending that was holding her back the whole season.

Regardless of how quickly she got it back, she felt truly powerless for the first time, which is what she needed to really connect with herself.

94 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

41

u/PCN24454 13h ago

I find it funny because the complaints about Korra are ironically very similar to complaints in-universe.

It highlights that most people just see the Avatar for its power and authority rather than genuinely valuing the Avatars themselves.

21

u/Elsecaller_17-5 12h ago

And it was really letting go of absolutely everything that restored her bending. If she hadn't been about to kill herself, Aang wouldn't have shown up.

It is often at our lowest points where we are open to the greatest change.

13

u/Accomplished-Exit-58 12h ago

My take on S1 korra is it is like a criticism about ATLA finale. Like "oh you think removing someone's bending is non violent", then see how you feel when it is done on the protagonist and her friends. Especially when Amon was able to kidnap the whole air bending family, like what are you so worried about, it is not violent you say 

3

u/Invite-Healthy 11h ago

I don’t really get the argument thought because they were fundamentally different ways of taking bending, and Amon’s was portrayed as being a far more violent version 

2

u/Future-Flatworm-7313 8h ago

Even that scene, to me, is less about her restoring her bending and more about her finally connecting to the Avatar State. I love the visualizer of Aang showing up first, but a lot of people misinterpret that and use it as some weird Aang feat/copout despite all the Avatars being present.