Korra Season 3 Episode 9 Reaction (Extended)

One problem I have with Zaheer's plans: humans are social creatures and, if they survive the chaos, will eventually form groups/factions. It's way easier than being a lone wolf, and we all know humans will try to find the easy way out. Even other animals, like dogs, horses, chickens, bees, ants, etc. have formed their own social structure that they all tend to abide by. To some extent, order is part of nature and, as long as humans and other social creatures exist, I don't thunk there will ever be true chaos. Then, if Zaheer succeeds, and spends the rest of his life maintaining chaos, by eliminating any social structres that may arise, he becomes the very thing he sought to destroy, a tyrant.

Nathan K

Thank you for saying so!

Alex G

I've never loved you more, Goodwin. Your insights give me peace and hope for humanity - they are sunlight on my soul. Thank you thank you thank you for being who you are, and being brave enough to put yourself out there and build a platform to share that with the world. I tip my hat to you, sir. May we follow your example.

Fane Alexander

Man, your insights are so deep! This turned up to be such a delightful rewatch : )

Therion

Oh wow! Of course..!

Therion

Zaheer is so based its unreal. Politically ideology wise I fall under the sorta anarchy/as little amount of Government as possible type of person so I legit route for the guy tbh. Favorite villian of the show by far.

benj

Same! I really love that character and the way she fights. She is a very agile and versatile waterbender in my opinion. It’s so interesting to watch her fight. Whenever she is fighting with the Red Lotus, I’m always on focus on her just to see her fight lol. She has to be one of my top 5 five waterbenders.

Jose

There's so, so, so much to talk about with this episode... but I'm too lazy. Instead I just have to laugh at the fact that Zaheer intentionally villain monologued for an entire episode just to keep Korra preoccupied and buy time for his team. As genre-savvy villainy goes, this is only like half a step below Azula shooting Aang during his power-up sequence. And honestly, the Red Lotus is just SO satisfying as villains. Season one built up to Amon and Tarrlok, but most of the season only involved their no-name flunkies. Season two built up to Unalaq, but the closest thing to a villainous presence before the final arc was Varrick and Eska. But Team Zaheer is this relentless omnipresent force, kind of like Team Azula in ATLA season two. They might not always win, but they sure as hell make an impression in damn near every episode.

Rachel Espiritu

Out of no doubt Zaheer has to be the number one interesting antagonists of the whole Avatar franchise in my opinion. He has a vision that is backed up with his own strong beliefs and facts he has learned about the different historical events. He really stated the wrongs of what several have made in the past like Firelord Ozai and even Avatar Wan. No villain has made that in the Avatar universe. Many have simply fought for power. Amon might be the exception but Zaheer definitely is. He simply is doing what is best for the world. But anyways, glad you are enjoying the season, can’t wait your reaction of what’s to come. Oh and also that little interaction between Pabu and the chunky spirit was cute lol

Jose

I took me a few watches for it to actually click that Zaheer was meant to be Korra's airbending master in the Red Lotus - when he mentions the Red Lotus members teaching her. That is why he is such an ... air-head, heh. He studied them, their culture, the bending, even though he couldn't do it. He was going to teach Korra.

Drake Chuckle

So glad we reached this point where you finally got Zaheer’s story. I enjoyed your perspective on his philosophy and mission.

Blackeyedlily

And I love it! I do feel like we need a complete run down of his exciting past lol

Cody Taylor

Definitely a very layered character. Much more complex than just “evil” or “good.”

Nick

This episode is the reason I don’t consider Zaheer to really be a villain but more of an antagonist. He wants what’s best for the people, which is a goal for the greater good, so he’s not a villain to me. But the way he executes his goal is not good, at least by my standards or Korras.

Nick

I love Ming hua’s fight with Mako so much she was toying with him and smiling while doing so she head him pinned against the wall and she was smiling like it was the most fun thing in the world... she’s definitely my favorite of the red lotus

DrowsyCody

What do you mean "Random story, but I was a private investigator for 6 months"? How do you just drop something like that with no explanation? LMAOOOOO I feel like you're constantly tell us random things about your past and none of it correlates, like you've just had 20 different identities and you somehow ended up here 🤣🤣🤣

Jonathan Acosta

Another one!

D DuB

I think that signal was saying "I've got eyes on allllll of ya"

Jupiterninja

NEXT EP IS THE WAIT FOR IT EP

Brimmy

Yeah, I get what you mean. He has points that feel valid, mixed in with all the other, less compelling, stuff. There are definitely dangers to placing too much faith or power in political leaders. But then again, as you pointed out, removing or limiting these power structures might create brand new problems.

Alex G

My thought at that moment was OH they actually brought it back! But I was too wrapped up in the conversation lol

Alex G

Thanks! This episode was a really great balance of all the good stuff: Action, humor, character development, plot building.

Alex G

I had never seen their channel before but I just watched and enjoyed their most recent video. What he's talking about is especially relevant to what I was thinking about Zaheer in this episode, and to broader themes in Korra about searching for meaning and identity :)

Alex G

I think that signal Korra made when they were leaving the first earth bending bar was reminiscent of Sokka repping the water tribe when they left the bullies in The Blind Bandit episode before attending the Earth Rumble.

Faureamour

I love how they tied things back to season 2 and Unalaq

Official Jrem

Yes the subtleties of it all...

Cody Taylor

I love this episode so much. As someone who has been shifting around politically lately and find myself more libertarian in my beliefs and what that really means i find myself really understand what zaheer is saying and wants for the world but i still see its flaws and that abrupt change only leaves vacuums for more power hungry people to fill. i have to say that the anarchist ideal does seem appealing, but how possible is another question

Cody Taylor

Definitely agree. He is that rare person who actually is awake enough to look at the world critically, and strong enough to carry his vision forward into the world.

Alex G

This is one of my favorite episodes in LoK. I love the combination of satisfying exposition, the building up of Zaheer as an antagonist with a debatably just cause, and the mystery/action scenes sprinkled throughout. I'm a big fan of how you broke down society and it's failure points, really good way to contextualize things. This season just continues to get crazier and crazier :D

Aidan Pullen

Idk if you watch vlogbrothers but the video that went up today would likely be interesting to you, especially in context of Legend of Korra

Rae W.

Thanks :D Episodes like this bring so much to the table.

Alex G

The fact that Zaheer adheres to Anarchy makes him so compelling. With characters like the Joker just causing destruction because he enjoys seeing the world burn, its a breath of fresh air to look at Anarchy from Zaheers perspective. He isn't sadistic or even psychotic. He genuinely believes in what he is saying, but he falls short in his plan of action. Cant wait for tomorrow's episode, man!

I’m really excited for the next episode, its really breathtaking. This season is really good and you can definitely see where Zaheer is coming from but as always with these villains they take it too far.

jassihere

I think that's one of the many cool things about Zaheer is that you kind of agree with him for the most part up to a certain point or at least not with his proposed plan of action. And of course the fact that he truly believes in his cause and doesn't use it to justify getting all power for himself unlike most other villains.

witz

Whenever I watch your reactions I always feel like I just had a condensed philosophy class (in a good way). You have some of the most thoughtful commentary of any Avatar reactor I’ve seen.

Just avoid walking into heavy fog and you're probably fine

Alex G

Bending is cool and all but the fact that if you are dedicated enough to learn you can meditate into the spirit world is so freaking cool. Then you can explore and experience so much even if you live in the slums of ba sing se or in a remote town somewhere. You can befriend spirits like boomju. And see things mist people will never even understand. Or you can wander to far and get your souls face stolen from Koh. I guess maybe its dangerous too, but still! Worth the risk!!

Nico Salerno

Lmfao great meme, looking forward to seeing why you included it there.

benj

Hell yeah! Just reloaded the page. Can't wait to watch this one.

Aaron Ong