Legend of Korra 2x8 Reaction Early Access!

I hate this origin story with a passion. They totally fucked up. They retroactively made ATLA worse with this Raava/Vaatu garbage.

Koala Banana

I think the writers totally fucked up the reincarnation story element in favor of having Korra's character be very different from Aang. There's nothing that suggests Korra is the same as Aang in any way. She's no more like him than anyone else is. If you look hard enough you can find personality similarities between anyone and anyone else. Korra is supposed to be more similar to Aang than that, if she is in fact the same person reincarnated. Arg I get so triggered about this. The writers totally fucked up every cool story element they had going in ATLA. What the fuck happened to chakras? Apparently they don't matter at all. You just need to have a little cry and be depressed, then the previous Avatars will come and grant you mastery of the Avatar State. Might as well slap ATLA in the face while you're at it.

Koala Banana

This is my absolute favourite episode from all seasons of LoK

A lot of people mention that moment on several videos although I'm Not really sure why. I've never taken that statement literally or as absolute fact. It's simply him saying he's done it a lot of times before so he's gonna do it again

bb

At the Botanical Gardens during WaveCon, myself and Keeks made Calvin plug his ears for a second so we could talk about how excited we were for you guys to catch these two episodes. Among my favorites in the franchise.

felix arrowny

Does anyone remember when Roku appeared back in Avatar the last airbender when Jeong Jeong wouldn't teach Aang firebending? Roku said he had mastered the elements 1000 times in a 1000 lifetimes. Interesting thing to think about

the learned through the animals, sky bison, dragon, moon, badgermoles.

Eliezer De la Cruz

best episodes of the series

They didn't outright say it but they strongly implied it

fun fox

For your question about how powers continued after the Lion Turtles. Note that Wan still learned how to control fire from a dragon. Everyone else were basically fire tossers, he actually Bent it. So it's likely that powers became genetic, but to actually master it, they learnt from the dragons, the moon, sky bison, and the badger moles. So both explanations for learning to bend are accurate.

Tom Sharpe

The reason why the Avatar spirit chose a child it's because (s)he is Wan's reincarnation. Korra was Aang in her past life, Aang was Rouku in his past life etc. But they are their own person, have their own personality, mentors etc. They life's perspectives can be different. Airbender Yachen was okay with killing if it meant maintaining balance, but Aang could not go with it because he was taught differently.

Jackie

Wan does learn the elements in the order of the avatar cycle Fire(Roku) Air (Aang) Water(Korra) Earth(Next Avatar)

Conor Stanley

I mean, you brought up the concept of reincarnation, but didn't really get into what that means. :D Wan IS Korra. Korra is Aang, Aang is Roku. They're all reincarnations of the same person, with Raava coming along. It's not a choosing thing, the Avatar is the same person. That's why Raava says "I will be with you through all YOUR lifetimes". I feel like you haven't really embraced that aspect of it, though Eric got into it at the end. I'd be interested in hearing you discuss that more. Is it because Korra and Aang are such different people? I find the entire concept fascinating, and I still think that you can see a bit of the past avatars that we know in the ones that comes after, even if it's a small part. Because they're essentially the same person. That aside, what a fantastic set of episodes. The art-style, the concept, the MUSIC (some of my favorite pieces from Avatar in general). And what a reaction. I was very much looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. I had a feeling you'd get really in to this, and your discussion of the lore at the end was really interesting. I am kind of of the opinion that bending was learnt by the animals, moon, etc, the refined arts, but that the element themselves were given by the turtles - because otherwise why wouldn't everyone be able to learn from those animals? Anyway, I'm still really hype about following you on Korra's journey. It's going to be a ride.

JojoInSpace

Dragons inherently had the ability to firebend (not the sun), sky bisons to airbend, the moon to waterbend, and the badger-moles to earthbend. Lion turtles inherently had the ability to give element bending to humans. It's possible for humans to even bend the elements because the lion turtles made it possible. Humans think that they learned from the dragons, sky bisons, moon, and badger-moles because they learned how to perfect their bending from those things. If the lion turtles never gave them the ability to bend the elements to begin with they wouldn't have been able to learn to perfect their bending from them at all.

KillApollo

Hi everyone!

This is awesome! I this two-parter is where the show really tightens up, and I can't wait to watch their reactions to future episodes. Also, I really love the Raava reveal and how mythmaking works, *of course* things will be forgotten and changed through 10,000 years of history, even within the Avatar, who is the same person but grows up to be different (and yet similar enough) will forget their origins.

Isa

Well its like Wan, he had Fire-Bending, but he learned the style from a Dragon. Its the same for the Badger Moles and Toph, she had the power, just not the style, so she learned from those who used bending naturally just to live normally.

Eric Keatts

Just wanted to mention this here in case anyone was interested. There is a Legend of Korra Pro-bending board game that is up on Kickstarter right now that looks really well done. Might be worth checking out if your into that sort of thing!

Bryce Nielsen

Also, the next Avatar is just the next reincarnation, not chosen by Raava lol.

Alec Campo

That's a good point brought up about the two lovers from Omashu having learned from the badger miles. Completely forgot about that one, but now I have a new theory about it, but it would involve parts of book 3. All I will say is that maybe the two lovers were non-benders born from earth bending parents, and had the potential to bend but it wasn't unlocked until they met the badger moles.

The cycle, is Air, Water Earth and Fire. However, Wan was a firebender, so he did learn it in the right order but he was just a firbender first. Fire, Air, water and earth. The cycle is always is in the same order, but the first element changes depending on the original bending of the person. Like Korra. She learned water, earth, fire then air. Same order, just a different starting point.

Alec Campo

And thus the first mega tree was born

Andrew Reise

And then there's the moon.

Jik

I'm pretty sure the way it is said in the opening is just the order it needs to be in for the specific Avatar's base element is last, not any significance to it beyond that I would think. Based on this episode I would say the next avatar would have been a descendant of one of the air nation people we saw, then water, earth and back to fire.

Eric Solo

Calvin, technically non of the past Avatars told Aang he had to kill Ozai. Roku: "You must be decisive." Kyoshi: "Only justice will bring peace." Kuruk: "actively shape both your destiny and that of the world" Yangchen: "selfless duty asks you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world." Yangchen was the closest though.

Taidow

Finally. I usually watch this as soon as it's uploaded (when I should be working) had to miss my fix all day. Love you guys

Arden.Bijou

Love this episode

Eric Solo

I don't think reincarnation works like that. It's not like a parasite seeking out a host; the soul IS the person. Neither Wan nor Raava chose Korra; Korra IS Wan (and therefore also Raava, because they are permanently fused by the energy of Harmonic Convergence). What's special about her is that she's Wan, and therefore the Avatar; everything after that is up to her choices. (Presumably everyone else reincarnates too, it's just most people don't have a spirit of light carrying the power of all four elements fused to their souls, so it's not as obvious who they're reincarnated from.)

Jen A. Blue

the lion turtle gave the power but the humans learned how to properly use it but studying the original benders. if you rewatch the last episode wan was learning from the dragon

Avrumi Ravitz

Happy birthday!

Tina L

Also, is anyone else watching Eric's GoT mug, worried he'll knock it off the table one day?

Tina L

Fun fact: Avatar Wan died in the same field that Zuko passed through in the beginning of "Zuko Alone"

Well, here's my 2 cents: There's a difference between bending the power and bending the art. As the lion turtle told Aang before bending the elements, they bent the energy within themselves. When the lion turtles gift people with the power of an element, they do so by bending the energy within that person. Then people learned the art of bending from the original benders in nature. Wan learned the art of firebending from a dragon. Similarly earth benders probably learned the art from badger moles, air benders from sky bison, and water benders from the moon and sea. This also plays into how I believe bending is passed on. It's not learned or genetics. It is the energy within a person's spirit manifesting. So when people with bending have children, some of their spirit is in that child which allows that child to bend. They then have to refine their skill at the art.

Neil Prospect

I enjoy all the lore building and attention to detail in these episodes but especially the Avatar voice. When Wan speaks in the Avatar state it is just his voice, but whenever Korra or Aang do there are so many voices layered in to represent every Avatar. Such a cool detail!

Tina L

so many comments here repeating the same correction about the Avatar cycle >_>

Bradley Nelson

I don't think its as much Korra is picked as much as it is that Korra was born being the avatar. They are reincarnations not hosts.

Burooj Ahanger

The avatar cycle also follows the seasons; fire related to summer, air to autumn, water to winter, and earth to spring

Burooj Ahanger

Its more like the bending animals were really proficient at bending compared to humans who could control the elements so what humans did was observe how these animals bent and converted them to human forms to become more efficient If they never learnt how to bend they would never have reached the point where lightening, metal and other branch bendings were possible. its like science/technology in a way

Burooj Ahanger

One of my favorite episodes of Korra, so beautifully done.

Rich Cassou

Scroll down untill you see a link to their google drive

TbcAlex

great reaction, by any chance, how do i view the full length version?

All you guys are right, I did mess up the Avatar Cycle and didn't catch that Wan learned in the correct order, which was something I was watching out for. Sometimes when doing these videos, you can get a bit messed up in your thought process and have a brain fart, and unfortunately that is recorded here forever. Thanks for keeping us on our toes everyone! - Eric

Blind Wave

Avatar Wan learned the elements in the correct order. Fire-Air-Water-Earth is the avatar cycle. Its the same cycle as Earth-Fire-Air-Water. Only difference is the cycle began with Fire. But the cycle and order of elements he learned them in correctly corresponds to the "avatar element cycle". Its like saying the seasons. Winter-spring-summer-fall, is the exact same thing as Spring-summer-fall-winter. You just began the cycle with a different season, but the order is still the same.

Rawwk

They never say this, but I always assumed Raava influenced Wan's reincarnation to the Avatar cycle to try to keep a balance, but doesn't have total control over who she/Wan's soul are reincarnated as. When Roku died I don't think Raava specifically chose Aang because she knew he had a grand destiny, but she nudged the Avatar Spirit to be reborn into the Air Nomads and it reincarnated into Aang.

Jjop017

best birthday present ever..thank you guys...!

The thing with bending is that it's a martial art. People possessed the power of the elements before, however, they've never been able to connect with it. Elemental animals such as dragons, badger moles, and flying bison taught humans how to fully utilize the elements.

Si1ence32

Awesome that we on avatar wan, oh no back to Korra again lol

Etty Gafa

Well Roku learned Air, then Water, then Earth, just like Wan. They both had fire first. The cycle is Fire, Air, Water, and Earth because of Wan.

Gem

You guys have the cycle wrong. It goes Fire > Air > Water > Earth'

GoldArthur

the cycle is correct, earth, fire, air, water. that is the same thing as fire, air, water, earth. the surfboarding avatar was water, then kyoshi was earth, then roku was fire, then aang was air then korra was water. so after Wan it would be an air bender. the cycle is consistent, we just never knew the starting point among the 4. technically the first avatar was a firebender. the cycle is in the exact order Wan received the elements. The only knew info is that the cycle begins at fire.

Trent Deuster

Those rock disks stood there intact half buried for 10,000 years? Doubtful, Stonehenge isn't even that old.

coffeemilk

The order Wan learned the elements did become the Avatar cycle. Fire, air, water, and earth was the same order that Roku (the fire born Avatar) learned the elements. Remember the Avatar cycle is an actual cycle, not a linear pattern that they all learn in the exact same order every time. When the Avatar is reborn in the second element they learned in their previous life then they go on from there. Wan's direct reincarnation was air. They learned air, water, earth, and fire, the same order as Aang (air born Avatar). Korra's order was water, earth, fire, and air. The avatar after Korra will be an earth bender who learn earth, fire, air, and water. So on and so on.

Jjop017

Eric nailed it, they learn bending by observation and develop martial arts. The power source is the lion turtles. Wan did that with a dragon. That is why we can have toph using a totally different form of earth bending than bumi. Bending is just martial arts, not the power itself.

Trent Deuster

Like Avatar Roku

Alex Morelli

You are wrong eric cycle is:water earth fire air. And wan learns elements in that order too begining with fire he then goes air then water and earth

Koray

You literally just said the circle, IT IS fire air water and earth, and that's the order Wan learned them, and that's how the avatar circle goes. Now wan was a fire bender, that was the connection he got from the lion turtle, that's what makes him a fire bender, so the circle following this logic doesn't go from nation to nation but to bender to bender. What I'm saying is that you born with this connection to whichever bending, then Raava is the one that gives the avatar the power of the other elements, so the avatar doesn't born the avatar, the avatar at the beginning develops the bending he has connection to, then how quickly they bend the other elements comes with how strong Raava is manifesting. At least that's my theory

Alex Morelli

The order of learning is correct. Avatar Wan learned the elements in the same order as Avatar Roku (Fire, Air, Water, Earth). The avatar normally starts with the element they are born with. The firebender master told Aang the order Aang needed to go in because Aang was an airbender first (Air, water earth fire).

TheJediOtaku

Excellent reaction, that face on Shane when they bonded was epic.

Just letting you guys know that area where avatar wan died id the area the zuko walked through in the episode zuko alone.

That moment when it goes back to Korra and I'm like ahhh crap...if only we just keep going with Wan. The art and style of these 2 episodes are incredibly beautiful I wish the whole show was like that.

007

"We are bonded forever." FUCKING CHILLS.

Trent Deuster

Nice

Blackest Hippy

of course they release this episode late lol

Junaius Stewart

Man I felt like I was tweaking out while waiting for this. Gotta wait till I get home to watch but.... We are bonded forever (to this series)

ObligedUniform

YES! BEEN WAITING ALL WEEK FOR THIS!

Harry Utton

Worth the wait.

Pheonix

fuck yea

First. I'm number Wan

3rd Eye Phreak

SHIT WOOH