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Korra Season 2 Episode 14 Reaction (Extended)

Controversy aside I think this was a great season. 

The moving moments, the characters, the action, Varrick, the music... For me it overshadows some of the less compelling narrative choices (I'm looking at you, love triangle), and makes it truly great TV. 

Hope you guys enjoyed Season 2! See you very soon for Season 3.

Korra Season 2 Episode 14 Reaction (Extended)

Comments

No apologies! We're just excited, and having episodes so back-to-back like this is already a treasure.

Kingsley

Thanks! I'm very happy to hear that. And yeah, I think there was a lot to think about this season. Very relatable for me personally

Alex G

That's interesting that they said that. Btw I'd be happy to redo the shout out, just message me what you'd like me to say :)

Alex G

Lmao I'm sorry. It's uploading now

Alex G

Anyone else enthusiastically refreshing the Patreon page, excitedly anticipating the upcoming drop for Season 3?

Kingsley

As far as I'm aware, the creators flat out said they think Aang relied on his past lives too much, which is why they severed Korra's connection. I'm sad we don't get to see them anymore, but I understand, and especially with the season's themes about being your own person and not trying to fit into the shoes of your predecessors, I think it makes sense. And who knows, nothing says a future Avatar can't restore the connection one day. The possibilities are endless. As for the season as a whole, when I first watched it I really liked it overall. I had no idea it was so poorly received when it first aired. It definitely had its share of stumbles, but it's nowhere near as awful as people say it is. Also, really regretting not changing the stupid username I picked when I first signed up for Patreon. But still, eeee shoutout!

R. Lewis

Her decisions were justified in my opinion. Her father had been lying to her and holding her back, Tenzin couldn’t teach her anything about spirituality. Unalaq was a lot more than just sugary words. He actually taught her quite a bit as we saw with her spirit bending ability. Her decisions make perfect sense to me and in her position I’d Probably make the same ones.

shady07

I, for one, think Korra is a fantastic show. It definitely matures more over time, I think, in that rewatching it and watching Avatar again after Korra, etc., you get so much lore and backstory in Korra, so much worldbuilding. There's more I wish I could address, but I don't think I can without spoiling something. Maybe we'll go over it after the series is done. Keep doing you.

Ben Barringer

I always found it funny the writers wanted the whole love triangle trope/angle when like I think its really not relatable for most teens LOL... season 3 is the shittttt cant wait for those reactions!

Tenzin Dikyikhangsar

Wanting more Aang appearances or not being similar to ATLA have nothing to do with why Season 2 of Korra is hated by the vast majority of the fanbase. There are plenty of legitimate reasons as to why someone might adamantly dislike this season, aka. making the lore of the world dramatically less compelling, Christianizing the entire lore, fundamentally changing the viewers perspective of the Avatar as an objective Good, and plenty of other major things.

benj

You have no idea how much I look forward to your uploads everyday. And I loved this season too. It's kind of sad that the connection with the past avatars were severed, but I think it brought something new to the plot and it's also refreshing, in a way. I would have been really sad if the avatar reincarnation cycle ended, but that's not the case so, that's fine with me. She can still communicate with Raava and Raava has been with every single avatar, so she can still guide Korra and the future avatars. Also people have mentioned that it seems like each avatar works on fixing the biggest mistake of previous avatars, so maybe the next avatar in this universe is going to work on making that reconnection somehow. But whether that is the case, I still enjoy this season and I love LOK a lot and I wish people could appreciate it more. A lot of the themes are heavier and more relatable for me than ATLA and I learn a lot about myself and think about how the world is

Grace Lee

Goodwin - I'm so happy you kept an open mind for season 2 (although I shouldn't be surprised, as you generally have throughout both series!) and ended up liking it because it's honestly so underrated. I believe one reason some people are harsh on it because they were still expecting a series like ATLA, and more Aang appearance which are no longer a possibility. I believe that it was, while not necessary, overall a good direction for the show in severing the connection to Korra's past lives because it really emphasizes the title - the *Legend* of Korra, because Korra will be the new Wan in the renewed cycle. It fits the bill. Finally, my opinion on what you may have missed with Jinora... you need to look back at episode 13 end, when Jinora leaves Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi, she hands them one of the two light spirits (butterflies) and says it will guide them out of the Spirit World. She then leaves to go help Korra with the other light spirit with her. I believe this light spirit is the spirit she is cradling when she appears in the final battle in episode 14. She knew that Korra's connection to Raava had been severed and that Unalaq/Vaatu were trying to destroy Raava/light. I believe this is why she took the light spirit her and knew that she needed to help Korra. As always, great and insightful commentary. Can't wait for you to delve into the final 2 seasons. Also, much kudos to you for the daily uploads as not many other creators who do reactions focus on one series and generate content as quickly as you. Definitely appreciating the effort!

Lily

I wrote something similar! Although, I think it was more of a crutch on the show than it was to the character. I'm sure the writers hated being compared to ATLA.

Makima

I'm not sure if this has been said, but the idea of severing the ties to the past avatars, albeit confusing, does make sense from a writer's point of view. I think the decision was made from the writers to encapsulate what they wanted the show itself to be: a different avatar's journey in a different time and place. I'm sure they noticed that LoK was met with heavy comparison to ATLA. The writers wanted the audience to view without a comparison lens. By restarting the cycle of the avatar, the writers essentially restarted the show. In a way, season 2 is more of a season 1 than season 1 is. It lays the foundation for a new overall show, whereas Season 1 maintains its "spinoff" vibe. The question is if that was a good idea. Fans like myself agree that trying to create your own show that's deeply rooted in a previous installment is a tricky task. There haven't been many successful spinoffs, but the few ones that have been successful (like Frasier and Better Call Saul) do so by adding to the already great foundation that the previous show had. I think when shows like LoK go back into their foundation and, instead of adding, rewrite, tie-up, or subtract from their predecessor material, they are met with backlash. At the end of the day, it's a classic tale of writers versus marketers. Maybe the show always had the intention of being its own thing, but the way it was portrayed prior to release was anything but that. Who can blame them? No sure if the show would have had the same viewership for season 1 if it had been known that LoK never wanted to be a spinoff. I believe season 2 isn't well received the same way a rebellious teenager isn't well received. They both wanted to be their own person doing so by drastically separating themselves from the parents that came before them. With that known, viewing season 2 with that lens, I tend to appreciate it more. Was it the best execution? Probably not. Is it my favorite season? No. But I can't help but empathize with artists who strive for individualism in the face of an overwhelming societal desire to be like what has already been. Let me know what you guys think. Great breakdowns as always, Goodwin!

Makima

well said

joe martin

"Is she gonna turned her down?" Interesting thought! This possibility never occurred to me!

Therion

I'm just left with so many questions about this season aside from the obvious one with Jinora. Since Raava was removed from Korra, shouldn't she for one not be the avatar anymore and two not be able to bend but one element since raava is what allowed that to happen within a human? Why were they able to so easily destroy spirits while defending Korra during harmonic convergence but at the start of the season the spirit was absolutely destroying everyone - including Korra in the avatar state. When did Korra actually learn to do the spirit technique that Unalaq used and what did it actually do? What was the point of severing the connection with past avatars if she rarely interacted with them? I know you referenced leaning on the previous avatar's for guidance but it's more than that - that was the source of power for the Avatar state (another thing the wan backstory ruins, in my opinon). Why on earth would they boil the avatar down to a Jesus spirit fused with a human? How and where does Tenzin find all of these 'ancient texts' about the spirit realm where he can go on for 5 minutes of exposition? Why would Bolin suggest she talk to her past lives when she's done that once before and never because she tried herself (and did he even know she has done that?). Just overall a flawed season but still decent in the grand scheme of things.

Darby

Like big blue Aang is literally the exact same deus ex machina that big blue korra can be described as.

Andrew

Aang was able to randomly connect to a fishes spirit, turn giant and stomp on war ships with no prior or further explanation. Amazing spectacle but there was no genuine reason for it to happen and no need for it other than for a way to give the fire nation a loss.

Andrew

I agree nathan it would a good solution at the time sense spirits and humans up until that point has been in a kind of cold war (not every nation) but enough where those grudges would of been just another problem the world faced. But with the separation those feelings faded and humanity can start anew with spirits in a time where they aren't so frightened by each other and can learn to coexist

Cody Taylor

I agree, this season and finale is best to be forgotten.

benj

Yeah i have to agree i think season two and korra as a whole doesn't get enough credit. People always look at standing next to ATLA and its so hard to be fair to a show next to what most would agree is nearly perfect. And it makes the little difference look like huge imperfections when really they aren't that bad its still a great show and so beautiful and powerful. I think the community who actually enjoys Korra has been so defensive sense it aired always trying to justify its existence always recommending it but with reservation. I don't think we should do that anymore. Accept it for what it is and don't let its short comings define it

Cody Taylor

ummmm maybe because they are completely different events and circumstances, one being incredibly well written and actually making sense, the other being a completely ridiculous deus ex machina that never gets explained. Thats why people get angry at giant blue Korra and not giant blue Aaag, watch both shows.

benj

I think the finale of season 2 feels a bit rushed with the sudden giant thing and jinora's light powers coming somewhat out of nowhere. To me it's nothing some more breathing room couldn't have fixed but it's one of the weaker finales to me. Although I think season 1 suffered from this too. It's one of the bigger issues Korra had compared to Atla in my opinion. With the avatar connection thing I think the idea is to reset the cycle at this new harmonic convergence to underline the changed state of the world, making Korra this new Wan of sorts, but I do agree the removal feels unnecessary to me. I also feel like we really didn't get enough chats with Aang before it happened, so y'know. Bummer. I still think there's a lot to love in season 2 though, so I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Buuuut Korra season 3 I absolutely adore, definitely my favorite thing in the avatar universe alongside season 2 of Atla.

Joqu

Anyway on to the best season in all of the avatar universe

DrowsyCody

I’m gonna be honest there a more things that someone 10,000 years ago a knowledge would be useless in than things it would be useful in frankly I think the cycle is over due for a restart

DrowsyCody

About Jinora, I think back to Mr. Lion Turtle's line from ATLA: "Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always give way to purifying light." I think Jinora served as that purifying light, and Harmonic Convergence amplified it. I always think of Aang's grandkids as his 'spiritual successors.' Meelo is the chaotic, unpredictable energy that was always in Aang, Ikki inherited his unrelenting optimism and energy. Jinora is Aang's pure-hearted, powerful spirituality, and that's my headcanon to explain her strong spiritual connection. Greatness really does skip a generation lol.

Nathan K

I agree. I also think that Wan's decision, at the time, was a good solution. If the Spirit and Physical world had remained connected, the 'darkness that surrounds humanity' absolutely would have 'infected' the spirits. I think the creation of Republic City, the end to the 100 year war helped to create a level of stability in the Physical World, and spirits won't turn dark as soon as they cross over. Also, one thing I noticed. Everything Vaatu says (except that he destroyed Raava) turned out to be true, but maybe not in the way he intended. Also I just noticed the parallels between this episode and the season 1 finale, even the giant spirit kaijus

Nathan K

Also the writers stated that they decided to sever the connection cause they hated aangs dependency on his past lives and felt it was a crutch.

Ramon Cintron

Some people say she was holding ravas tea pot in her hands and used to to help korra locate rava since the light was still in the tea pot but its really hard to see

Ramon Cintron

Time for the best season in most peoples opinion, including mine <3 can't wait to see your thoughts and reactions to it

SupremeCai

Like everyone else I had my problems with Season 2 but some of my favorite episodes were in this season. And I did love the music and some of the animation. BUT I am SO excited for season 3. It has a lot of philosophy moments and my favorite scene that has a great score is in the one of the last episodes of Season 3 and I can’t wait for you to see it. I almost always cry.

jassihere

I agree with this I don't hate the season just the decisions korra made that caused all of this to happen.

Brimmy

My thing is that I'm not angry that she lost her connection to past avatars I dontcare that she wont be able to get advice from her past selves, I'm angry about the decisions that lead up to her losing her connection because she didn't listen to her dad and tenzin she just went along with this person with sweet sugary words that ultimately ended up with the universe being put in danger of 10k years of darkness because it didn't have to happen.

Brimmy

Lmfaooooooo if anyone is offended it's clearly you bro. I didn't know calling your lengthy essay poo would trigger you so hardly (I even gave you an A for effort). So I am sad that after I addressed your confusion you responded with some boring insult about one brain cel (another illogical leap). Real original dude. I can see that along with writing horribly constructed poo, I've discovered that your ability to follow a convo is tantamount to that of an invalid.

D DuB

Why are you so … obsessed with the fact that I watched a tv show and then formed an opinion on it. Like what do you want … I’m really lost at why my opinion hurts you this much? Are you sad you didn’t have the space for an original thought with 1 and a half brain cells working so hard to hate me? 🤔

Andrew

Won't say too much but Lin gets a massive upgrade these next two books. Infinitely better used. Bolin too for that matter.

Chess Red Eagle

Nicely said. I like that. It's interesting to think about the idea of "balance" in this show. At a surface-level, it seems to be about keeping things the way they are and how we are told it should be. But as the characters discover over and over, balance is a moving target, much like in real life.

Alex G

That's definitely a fact of life lol. I think where the romance falls short is that their "love" doesn't feel all that genuine. They seem to just have crushes on each other (and others) and so the back and forth doesn't seem to have much stakes.

Alex G

The more I watch the more impressed I am by how early they seem to have laid the groundwork for some of these ideas. Even back in ATLA I had the feeling that's what they were getting at.

Alex G

Agree about Lin! She was one of the bright spots of season 1 and here she's wasted as the distrustful police chief.

Alex G

"Okay 1) When I said “jumble” I was referring to my own long ass ramble-y comment so maybe at least know what you’re critiquing before you do." And what do you think I was referring to? Are you alright bro? Can you read? Its ok bro. I still love you

D DuB

I don’t hate season two. It remains my least favorite season. But I would never say that I hate it. In fact I love the Avatar Wan story. Those two episodes remain overall favorites for me. And I enjoyed the bits we got with Uncle Iroh. That said, season three is my favorite and I think you are going to really enjoy it too.

Blackeyedlily

It's true that the giant monster battle doesn't have the same weight other fights in the past have had lol

Alex G

I think the end would have been a lot stronger if they had set up Korra’s struggle with her own identity vs. her identifying as the avatar more in the beginning of the season. And the giant battle probably could have been executed better. Giant Vaatu is one thing but Giant Korra does feel out of place. Especially since Korra is supposedly drawing strength from her own humanity, making her a giant like Vaatu waters another opportunity to contrast them. As for Jinora, they retroactively explain in season 3, although it still feels a little wishy washy.

Jerry Ferrell

Thanks!

Alex G

Anyway, yea I agree especially in book 1 her understanding and access to the avatar was too easy and was definitely brought on by the restrictive format and something nice about book 3 and 4 being ordered as a pair is how well they flow into each other and feel more linear in their storytelling and really building on the idea that Korra is a person first before she’s Avatar which is a really big distinction she needs, being able to see herself as valued outside of her duty. Book 3 and 4 explore that a lot in a way that book 2 only sort stretches the surface on mainly because at the time book 2 had been ordered and books 3 and 4 were in general limbo!

Andrew

The two colored energy beam thing and the kicks / punches / suplexes are not quite up to the standard we are used to, as you pointed out :D Overall though I like the battle between them and I think the giant blue Korra is just a physical representation of her channeling her own inner strength for the first time.

Alex G

Okay 1) When I said “jumble” I was referring to my own long ass ramble-y comment so maybe at least know what you’re critiquing before you do.

Andrew

The music is always good in this show but it really stands out in the 2 final episodes :)

Alex G

Lol your ignorance continues to amaze me dude. First you end your lengthy poo by saying "I hope this jumble makes sense" (news flash, it doesn't. So you shouldn't be surprised when someone calls it poo)", then you make the illogical leap that I must believe that everything I don't understand is poo? You'll have to tell me where you got your amazing powers of logical deduction bro. Because all I see is a defensive moron upset that someone dared to call his word salad poo. I suggest you go back to Microsoft word and try to write another horribly crafted essay.

D DuB

Makes sense. I think you have to allow for some creative license, especially when it comes to giant spirit monsters. For me, what's more important is not what it looks like but how it feels. If I have any criticism of the blue monster segment, it's that it often feels that for Korra these realizations come a little too easily, although I don't really have a problem with that either, since I'm guessing a lot of that is due to the restrictions of format (not having enough time, etc).

Alex G

I'm glad you recognize what the show is trying to do thematically, even if the execution wasn't great. I think there's an interesting parallel between Korra/Wan and Aang/Roku in a way. Roku staunchly believed that the four nations were meant to be separate, and his absolute inflexibility on the matter led to Sozin's colonization and eventually war. But Aang learned the exact opposite lesson in his life, starting from his time with Guru Pathik, and in the end Aang's desire for unity and harmony led to founding Republic City. Likewise, Wan brought order to the world by exiling the spirits from the human world, but Korra saw that maybe that's not the only solution. If there's one theme that's consistent all the way across the show, it's that even if the whole world is telling you that there's one right way to do things, you are still free to forge your own path. We do not have to inherit the sins of our fathers.

Rachel Espiritu

I actually really enjoyed korra and makos relationship they set them up as end game and the show said SIKE and actually gave us an important moral somtimes you like somone and you get into a relationship and it dosnt work shows and anime tend to paint the narrative that a character has one person they end up with for their entire l lives and that is so far from true it takes many heartbreaks to find that special somome and this season told us that everyone you like may not be the one and it’s okay to realize that and break up

Elijah baker

I question i always think about after watching this finale is, what will happen in another 10000 years. Will that avatar have deal with the fact vaatu is growing within them. And how will that affect them. Although to be honest I don’t see many more avatars coming after Korra, it seems to be an increasingly outdated system.

DJ Cargill

I mean sure if every opinion that doesn’t align with your lack of understanding of something or inability to think critically about it is shit then yeah, sure lmao.

Andrew

I was never a fan of the crazy multi colored energy beam thing, but i don’t so much mind giant blue Korra. I always thought of it like this: When the avatar enters the avatar state, they are channeling pure cosmic energy by proxy of raava, which is why we see Aang mastering the avatar state in the same way we see Korra doing what she does here, so i think the tree of time allows a human to channel this pure cosmic energy regardless of a spirit bonding stuff. And during harmonic convergence the amount of energy you can channel is exponentially multiplied, which is why you can manifest yourself as a being of pure energy.

DJ Cargill

Yo Andrew, at least you admit it was jumble because you could fill a room with all the 💩 💩💩 you just wrote. GGs though. At least you tried to make sense of it

D DuB

I mean, the way I always took it is the avatar is always a bender of the element/nation they're born into, plus Korra's father is a waterbender, so I feel like even if she weren't the avatar she'd still have that ability. Wan was still able to bend one element without Raava, and Raava only held the 3 other elements, not all 4.

WolfWarrior623

So yeah, season 2 is my least favorite of the show but I never hated it as much as some people. I still consider it to be good but my main problems were always some of the narrative choices, and character choices for that matter. Deus Ex Jinora, the Kaiju battle was both cool and silly. Lin is the greatest sin of this book. Does absolutely nothing and seems to lose about 50 IQ points with the way she keeps believing those two idiot/corrupt cops over everyone else. I really hated what they did to her. Even Bolin, even though I love Nuptuk, they clearly didn't know what to do with him so they just make him pure comic relief. And yeah, story is kind of all over the place even if it does kind of come together at the end. So yeah, a flawed but still pretty enjoyable season. Season 3 and 4 are a much more cohesive narrative, since they knew they would get them ahead of time, and are just that much better for it. Can't wait for you to start tomorrow!

Chess Red Eagle

Till this day, the season 2 finale makes little to no sense to me. But seeing Aang’s granddaughter power up is always top tier content.

D DuB

i am very very excited for season 3!

Nick Deano

Giant blue Korra is the other big issue I and many others have with this season. It's just so ridiculous and uninspired to me. I'm all for how they handled the spiritual stuff, and Korra needing to rely on herself over just Raava. I just think they could have handled it better than just giving us a Godzilla movie. Also I'm pretty sure you got exactly what happened with Jinora. I think honestly what happened was the showrunners were rushed by Nickelodeon, and so they had to shorten the season and come up with stuff last minute. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how I interpreted things. Either way, season 3 is much better.

Aidan Pullen

I think generally because that was about the ability to access the avatar state in its most complete form. We see numerous times when Aang enters the spirit world it’s an astral project of his inner spirit so the foundation of the concept of people having in inner spirit exists, Korra (the show) simply builds on this idea. Korra already being in the spirit world has a different use for spirit energy, it necessitated her astral projecting her inner spirit to be able to travel a long distance in a short amount of time (something we’d also seen previously) and to be able to face off of Vaatu. I think the idea of trying to say that simply because x happens in Avatar x has to happen in Korra is kind of silly because even in Avatar every time Aang access the avatar state there isn’t total uniformity. Once he’s a giant blue spirit, another time he accesses a plane of pure cosmic energy, along with the obvious power-up. I think it just takes being able to accept that the general concept is still the same but there are various way in which it can manifest itself in execution. Both times that meta spiritual plane was accessed it was for a different stop in Aang and Korra’s spiritual journey. For Aang he has to accept his role as the avatar and understand (like Yangcheng his role is to the world), Korra more or less knows this intrinsically, all she’d ever wanted to be was the best Avatar she could, her goal has always been to serve and to be, so for her her spiritual training necessitated understanding the power she has an in individual and what it means to have a sense of self, something Korra continually struggled with throughout the show and was the first step in understanding that. I think it’s also worth noting despite Aang entering that meta physical spirit realm he still hadn’t had full control over the avatar state as he was still in defense mode in the finale. It was accepting his role the avatar and realizing that he had to kill Ozai which took him out of it. He knew in that moment what he had to do and accepted he could do it regardless of the state he was in, and accepting that. I don’t think without accepting that aspect of his role he would’ve been able to leave the avatar state. At least thats how I see it :) I hope that jumble can make sense.

Andrew

And great video as always. I really appreciate your commentaries, it always gives me news perspectives to the episodes.

André Sousa

With Tenzin's words that the Tree of Time binds its roots with the phisical world, people believe it connects with the swamp's Banyan-grove tree. It was never conformed, but I like to think it's true.

André Sousa

idk how far ahead you record these but i really think you're going to love season 3. It's way more grounded in terms of conflicts and motivations... at least compared to 10,000 years of darkness... Looking forward to it! <3

Joseph Hallowell

I mean Aang's giant spirit monster makes some more sense to me because he fused with the spirit of the ocean, and that's gotta be a big power boost. Also it makes sense that the spirit of the ocean (who is a fish) could become a fish made of the ocean. Aang did the same celestial power thing as Korra in the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se, why didn't he become a giant spirit monster then?

Jupiterninja

YEAAAAA ANOTHER UPLOAD BABY

D DuB

also every avatar's failures is dealt with by the next avatar! so i think a theory is out there that the next avatar, the earth nation one could be dealing with the past lives

NitrousOxide19

I know the rules of bending in the avatar universe have always been flexible, but this finale always just felt like total bullshit. What about Korra meditating in a tree turns her into a giant blue spirit monster? If Raava is holding the four elements inside her, how is she able to bend water when not fused with Raava? How is she able to bend at all when she's not in her physical body? That's like the ONE rule they drove home in this season. This isn't even mentioning how boring "Big monsters fighting with magic chest lasers" feels when you're used to the high stakes close quarters bending showdowns of the past. The fights in this show and ATLA always felt so real to me, this just feels like throwing magic bullshit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Again, ATLA had it's share of pulling things out of thin air (energy bending e.g.) but this finale just doesn't do it for me AT ALL. Plus there's the whole order/chaos being treated as good/evil thing. It feels good to finally get all this out lol. I'll probably paste this in the youtube video as well.

Jupiterninja

i personally love the climax of this fight with jinora, the music is so so so good.

NitrousOxide19

To this day I wonder how people got angry abt giant blue spirit Korra who connected to spiritual energy … when Aang literally becomes… a giant blue spirit fish via connecting with spiritual energy. Super hype for Book 3 tho!!

Andrew

super pumped to see you react to season 3... it's my favorite season bc it's very philosophy heavy and definitely makes you think in a different way than previous seasons!

joe martin


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