Fire, Air, Water, Earth. This episode shows the origin of the Dragon Dance, to think that each Avatar has probably done the dragon dance, wo. The place between the spirit and material worls is a Yin Yan symbol! Only once Wan was willing to die to fight Vato did he bind with Rava, sort of like Jesus willingly going to the cross. In the end Wan does die, for whatever reason, with his back on the symbol of the earth kingdom.
Hated the framing device. Loved the art and the lore (but maybe only as a standalone). I like how they showed the dancing dragon, but I am also curious about the other original benders (esp the badger moles who taught Oma and Shu earthbending and the moon and ocean spirits), and the energy bending that one of the lion turtles told aang about. Also cute how there actually seemed to be a secret herd of flying bisons the whole time (during the hundred year war) ?????
This was sooooooooooo GOOOODDD like
idk, thematically it feels weird that Korra should separate worlds as the solution and it's supposed to be a good thing. And the only one who wouldn't be on board would be our main villain.
On the other hand, I don't believe that Unalaq could play a role of misguided good at this point and change her mind. Weird theme for a season, especially after Korra's conflict with her own father.
Finally after 19/20 episodes, we get a good episode. All the other episodes prior to this has been nonsensical & idiotic.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2017-08-07T21:40:37Z
[7.3/10] I have to admit, for so epic a thing as the creation of The Avatar, this episode felt pretty rushed. We basically blow through Wan getting to airbend and waterbend and earthbend, in a way that makes me think this might have been better served as four-part mini series or something between seasons.
It also gets a little too grandiose, even for someone like me who really enjoys when myth-heavy shows get all operatic and symbolic. The notion that there’s literal embodiments of good and evil who are sources of altruism and of trouble feels like a little too much for me, and it doesn’t help that they basically take the form of giant tentacled kites.
Still, I like the idea that humans can only typically handle one element at a time, and the way that Wan is able to transcend this is through having Rava actually join with him temporarily and then permanently. There’s something that gets too literal and mechanical about such a mystical thing, and lord knows the show never bothers trying to explain why Wan reaching into the pit of good light bonds them forever, but there’s at least an interesting wrinkle to why Wan was the first and why only he could do this.
Speaking of which, the harmonic convergence is pretty convenient, both for the story in the past and the present. That said, the battle between Wan and Vaatu is pretty damn cool visually, even if it doesn’t make much sense logically. I do appreciate that it gives an explanation for why The Avatar is the bridge between the real world and the spirit world, and the problems Korra caused by opening the seal Wan made between them.
But the whole episode is just too much too fast. Too much development from Wan too quickly, too much mythos delivered in a not-all-that-satisfying fashion, and too much energy-blast resolution that occurs without any real explanation or logic. There’s good ideas here and some very cool animation and design work, but it feels like a big jumble in the end, even if the strength of the history lesson and adventure makes it solid enough.