Korra Season 3 Episode 10 Reaction (Extended)

"I don't think killing the Earth Queen is actually going to do much" We can't be right all the time I guess lol

Nathan K

I've observed that natural living systems tend toward order and equilibrium and unnatural imposed order is actually what creates chaos and destruction. Like the rainforests, for example: millions of species of fauna and flora interacting harmoniously. There is death there, and the endless growth of new life. There are predatory, parasitic, symbiotic, and synergistic relationships. These things work together in support of larger systemic principles that ultimately sustain life and biodiversity. To us the system may appear chaotic because of its complexity, but in truth it's a harmonious system. That is, until industrialization comes in and introduces outside forces by trying to extract something from it. It's greedy humans and their mechanistic, reductionist thinking that creates systems that tend towards extreme outcomes and create dangerous volatility and instability. I kind of apply this lens to Zaheer's ideology. It's the idea that imposed consensus and imposed order from top-down authority always results in exploitation, oppression, and disenfranchisement. It's the idea that humans see themselves as somehow separate from nature (or in the case of the Avatar universe, they see themselves as separate from spirits) and they shouldn't. Large governing bodies, in Zaheer's view, are the result of a few individuals seizing power and wealth and using it to impose their will on the populace. By breaking those governments down and removing the leaders people depend on to do their thinking for them, Zaheer hopes to set the people on a path to learning how to self-govern and self-organize in a much more organic, decentralized way - one that will ultimately be more sustainable, more fair, more balanced and harmonious with spirits and nature. Basically it's the idea that instead of retreating to the safety and separateness of the lion turtle cities, humans should all have been like Wan - learning to integrate with spirits and nature as part of the real world, without an overarching governing authority compelling them to do anything. I admit this ideology appeals to me a lot when I try to imagine a more utopic world. Where Zaheer's ideology falls apart is exactly what you said: if the people aren't already liberated in their minds, taking out world leaders won't liberate them. All it will do is create fear and insecurity, pushing human society further toward darker and baser instincts for self-preservation. It takes a certain level of spiritual and intellectual enlightenment to recognize your own truth and your own ability to live out that truth with integrity. Once you have that understanding you are already free - no one can give that to you or take it away. And the people of the world, by and large, are not ready to take on that kind of personal responsibility for their lives and their own happiness, or for the state of the world. Thus we have the never-ending roller coaster of anarchy and authoritarianism over-compensating for one another, resulting in endless suffering. I guess Zaheer's greatest failing is his grossly overestimating human beings and their capacity to effectively self-actualize and self-determinate en masse.

Fane Alexander

No, not yet. The honor system has worked pretty well up until very recently.

Alex G

No matter how good things are, there will always be people who are outraged about the state of things. I think the comics did that well. After 100 years of war they're finally freed from the tyranny of Ozai and within the span of 2 years everyone starts turning on each other (Northern and Southern Water Tribes, for example).

Alex G

Nah that doesn’t make much sense. We don’t know what airbenders control, but the vast majority of air is nitrogen, not oxygen

Rudy Strother

Pulling the air out of someones lungs for an Airbender is pretty much what bloodbending is to a water bender. Both are intrusive and can easily kill. I guess a master Airbender is able to bend the oxygen in the blood as well.

Paul

If you think this episode is dark just wait haha

Brandon Golpe

Holy Shit Thats dark! *.* Seeing airbending used so violently and thinking about the possibilitys the air nomads had back in the day is frightening. Just like bloodbending.

Leander Leveringhaus

Remember how Monk Gyatso was found with scores of dead Fire Nation soldiers? There's a theory that he probably took the air out of all their lungs as his last stand.

Jackie

Goodwin(Alex) do you have anyone going through comments and pulling out spoilers yet?

DrowsyCody

You heard it here first folks zaheer says kill anything and anyone with authority over you and your choices

DrowsyCody

One thing I find curious is that Zaheer and his team seem to have grown up in a time of relative peace. I would think that for someone to develop such strong conviction about the uselessness of organized government, they would have to have lived through incredible trauma. But based on their appearance, it looks like the Red Lotus members we see were born 10-20 years after the end of the Hundred Year War. Granted we don't know too much about Team Aang's life from age 20-60, but... Team Aang are all remembered fondly by history, Aang, Zuko, Hakoda, and Kuei seem like at least passably decent leaders, and as far as we can tell it seems like the whole world outside of Ba Sing Se is prospering thanks to the post-war globalization boom. Zaheer's not exactly wrong that Reiko and Queen Hou-Ting are dumbasses, but they're not quite Ozai-level genocidal maniacs either.

Rachel Espiritu

To your question about how they gave water to Ming Hua, not sure how they would do it but knowing how the Fire Nation soldiers gave drinking water to waterbenders by tying their hands, they more than likely had to physically constrain her in some other strict form than the standard waterbender that needs to be hand tied. Probably by tying her legs and feet and covering her eyes so she won’t have any psychic capabilities of bending the water she is drinking? Also, l just really like Zaheer’s speech. He was honest and determined with his beliefs and decided to not take credit of what he did by staying anonymous. Such a good character for a villain. And as always, can’t wait for the next episode!

Jose

Right, not even the Fire Nation could take it down. That gets to show how powerful Ghazan is. And also I love how while he is taking the wall down, Zaheer is giving out the speech in the background. Such a good visual representation of freedom.

Jose

dunno where u got "kolo" from but that was the best XD but yeah they fully aired this ep on nickelodeon XD I remember the internet losing their collective minds about it XD the rest of this season is gonna be \uber fun\ :3

Brimmy

I have not, and that's actually very high on the poll here on Patreon for what to watch next. It will either be the next show I watch or the one right after.

Alex G

That's alright. I still enjoyed (though maybe that's not the right word?) that scene quite a bit. Right now on YouTube I'm getting a lot of comments about how the next episode will "take my breath away."

Alex G

Have you seen Full metal alchemist brotherhood? I think you would have a field day analysing that show.

Purple Dawn

Bold choice by them for sure

Alex G

"I don't believe in queens." -Zaheer the Flying Guillotine

DogBless

I’m really sorry that people spoiled the death of the Earth Queen for you. My personal rule is to not comment on something until after the thing has happened. Then people could go back and reference your earlier comment about the Earth Queen and how ironic it was that you said that. And yes, her death was very graphic!

Blackeyedlily

I just realized both zuko and Lin have face scars made by family members

Þórarinn Jónsson

That's true, and overall they don't have as much skin in the game as the people they're trying to help.

Alex G

I cant imagine how painful having the air sucked out of your lungs would be... Nick really went wild with the death scenes, no Jet moments here. There's an amazing video essay by Hello Future Me called "Zaheer: Why kill the avatar?" that analyzes and breaks down his reasoning better. I really recommend you watch it after finishing season 3, if you want to gain more insight on Zaheer's philosophy. Moving on, Its always tough for me to rewatch the finale, but I'm still really looking forward to your reaction. You're in for a journey of emotions these next few episodes!

Dierane

Also, I think Zaheer and the Red Lotus are not only at a different place mentally, but physically as well. They have the means to survive in these conditions because they are physically capable. Not sure if Zaheer just doesn't care that the weak will be at risk due to the sudden onset of chaos. A rapid version of natural selection will take place until a type of social Darwinism occurs, and new rulers/leaders will be back in place.

witz

That's a terrifying vision of Gyatso :0 I love Death Note. I wish I hadn't seen it so I could watch it. But maybe I can watch it again. One problem with doing that though is that Light is too smart for me.

Alex G

One question I would have for him is: What if people choose a new leader?

Alex G

I read a theory that monk gyatso killed all those fire benders by pushing all the air out of the room and holding his breath. I'd love to see you react to Death Note if you haven't seen it before. Your analysis would be really interesting

E_lincoln

Zaheer believes that the reason that the people that are trapped as you say, are only because of strict rule, and in some sense that's correct and he wants them to have the freedom to find their own path.

Andrew W.

"...for them the chaos means something different, it means fucking around until they probably will settle back into their ideology regarding the necessity of cities and borders and laws." Yeah I think that's the thing... Without a change in values, what's stopping things from forming in exactly the same way they did before?

Alex G

Well said. He's an admirable person for having that purity of dedication to his cause, as well as the strength to carry it out. That's uncomfortable to admit about a villain, but I think we can separate the good without condoning his actions. I think you summarized it perfectly. The order was created from disorder. You might take that to mean on some level, that is what people are freely choosing.

Alex G

Definitely! Balance is probably more desirable. And in many cases, order ENHANCES freedom in certain ways. In the example of the compound and the man-eating tigers... are you really free if you are struggling to stay alive?

Alex G

LOL

Alex G

That would not surprise me

Alex G

It's funny what is allowed and what isn't. For me, the sight of her clutching her throat gasping for air is way more disturbing than the word "kill" lol. And I'm pretty sure I would have figured it out even at like... age 5.

Alex G

I think a lot of where Zaheer’s mind is is in eliminating people who more or less make the immediate choices for you. Despite living in the society people do, be Ba Sing Se or Republic City it wasn’t much of an active choice, of course you can choose to move from one established settlement to another but once you’re there you’re restricted by what is already determined to be the way of life and having no ability to go anywhere in the world where you can live as you please is a problem to him, and even then despite Su sort of doing so she mentions she had to purchase her land to be able to have the ability to create her city, a luxury most wouldn’t have as I’m assuming her generational wealth does carry on since we know she is connected to her grandparents. Zaheer’s elimination of world leaders hopes to create spaces where you can decide to live as you please where you please without organized preordained laws determining that. I think where it goes awry is that not everyone is at the point mentally where the Red Lotus is, mentally what they know and believe is defined by the idea that the world is set in sections, these sections have rules of which you need to adhere to and can’t challenge in any large scale way solely, so for them the chaos means something different, it means fucking around until they probably will settle back into their ideology regarding the necessity of cities and borders and laws. Where Zaheer could do better is staying to teach them that anarchy simple means the individual rules themselves and loyalty is defined by the ties you create for yourself and not inherent to a system or a government. His view and words mean something different to the people he’s liberating and as long as they do, he’ll never see his vision come forth in the way that he desires. Wether that vision is beneficial well 😳😳 idk

Andrew

Although his ideology has its flaws, you have to respect Zaheer's dedication. It's not common for the leader of a coup to retain anonymity. He really cares about his cause. As for the cause though, the notion he asserts in the previous episode that "disorder is the natural order" is really shortsighted. Yes, the natural state of society is disorder, but I think he fails to realize that it's in human nature to create order from disorder. So, all he is doing is just reverting things back to square one. Then again I can empathize with him in that small, progressive reform in a tyrannical monarchy is not a potent catalyst for the change he wants, and it would take so long to create change that they may never get there because of the loss of motivation by its adherents or something worse like the tyrant cracking down on dissidents. That's just my two cents. It's very tough to reconcile two extremes. I guess that's why I'm not the avatar lol.

joe martin

Can't wait for the next episode

Shado

Ghazan taking down the walls is always going to be one of his most impressive feats we see and he does it with such ease. I’m pretty sure the inner walls as a good 20-30 feet less thick than the outer walls but still very very impressive

DrowsyCody

I agree with your perspective about Zaheer thinking he knows best for others. Killing a world leader will make a power vacuum and someone else will take control. He wants a world without oppression, but there has to be order of some kind or else we are just like animals. Some people want a world without rules, so they can do whatever we want (I think we all want that at times) but then there's no system to demonstrate fairness, no real society that isn't run by some power crazed dictators or people that just don't care and do as they please. The answer is somewhere in the middle, between order and chaos. But that is the ultimate flaw of Zaheer, he either isn't aware of that balance, or doesn't care and thinks his way is the right way. The last three episodes of this season are insane! Can't wait to see your reactions, man!

"I bet the nickelodeon execs had a hard time with that" I believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) this is the episode that got the show ultimately moved to online only and pulled from broadcast

Jupiterninja

You mentioned how dark that episode, particularly that scene is. You'll notice though they never use the word "kill" or "death". Every time they reference the event it's always "brought down", "took out", "took down", or "came to an abrupt end". They also didn't really show her death on screen. That's all totally fine, as it is a nickelodeon show, but it's just a funny little observation.

Aidan Pullen

I'm glad alex finally got to meet everyone's favorite character Colo

Robin

But do we really know for sure that Bosco was eaten by the Earth Queen? It was just a rumor that was mentioned in the Original Airbenders episode.

Jose

Wow

Alex G

I appreciate the effort :D I had a feeling though

Alex G

Book 2, Episode 18 of ATLA: Long Feng, to King Kuei: These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks. If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction. And now, 71 years later, Kuei's daughter has been brought down by an actual anarchist cell.

newairnation

This episode sure takes your breath away. It was so hard not to spoil anything after you said the earth queen needs to die because we all found that so ironic haha

hays collins

Basco has been avenged.

Samir Mohammed

Yay!!! I’ve been so excited for your reaction to this episode!

Bryce Johnson