In a semi-related note, I find it cool how, while Wan is super powerful when Raava is bonded with him, the moment he gets some of that harmonic convergence energy, he just enters a whole other level and completely washes Vaatu. Guru Pathik was really on one, talking about the cosmic energy of the Avatar state. As much a space wizard as a spirit 😂
@@norberto6005 I think hundreds of battlefields lookes the same. Dont forget its over 10000 years in between. World change often. No way that a place stayed so long the same
It was actually someone else who helped me realize with these episodes why they call them the Avatar. Cause an avatar is like a vessel that holds a spirit. The creators of ATLA said they actually wanted to add this origin story to the original series but couldn't fit it in so it exists with Korra now.
Every hero's journey is basically about learning to be the embodiment of our higher self. To become more of who you truly are, a light spirit in a material body and world.
Do you remember that image of the lion turtle we saw in the library in Avatar: The Last Airbender? There is a theory that the figure talking to the lion turtle in that image was actually Avatar Wan. A lot of people got upset that this retconned the origin of bending and so bending was no longer taught by the Dragons, Sky Bison, Moon, and Badger Moles. I see it as the Lion Turtles gave humans bending but they learned proper bending from the Dragons, Sky Bison, Moon, and Badger Moles. Notice how everyone's bending is super unfocused. Only Wan's resembles the martial art of the present.
They literally show Wan doing the Dragon Dance with a dragon. The people who obsess over LoK "retconning" Avatar because they're hung up on the ATLA explanation of bending being 100% true and accurate even though the lore is 10,000 years old (and then they've invented their own headcanon about exactly how people got bending from animals and they're mad that LoK doesn't match their headcanon) are the worst kind of nerds.
Yeah they quite literally show Wan learning from the Dragons. People had come to believe that they somehow obtained an innate ability by studying these animals and moon, but in reality they just learned techniques from them and the bending ability itself was given by the Lion Turtles- which at the point of ATLA seem to be viewed as either mythical or extinct beings. They clearly remember them in some form, given the motifs around in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation.
Well.. The Lion Turtles give people the bending but the element's animals teach how to bend it properly (Wan literally improved his firebending through dragon dance)
I think what really made this Wan backstory stand out was the stylistic art choice to give it a great atmoshphere for expanding the lore. Also, Fun Fact: the original Avatar creators wanted to tell this story in the original series with Aang but could never find the right time to include it in the story. Since Aang was already very in tune with his spirituality, I thought it was perfect that Korra was the one to go on this journey.
Did you notice the chronological order of the elements Wan received? Wan was the first fire Avatar, then got the elements air, then water and later earth. That‘s how the order started and continued and because air nomads are so attached to spirits, the first air avatar was able to find a connection to Wan and he told him the purpose of his/her life.
Couple of things: -19:50 this shows why the avatar will seize to exist if someone is killed in the state. Bc killing someone in the avatar state will also kill Raava -14:20 Raava is just the equavelent of having three extra inventory slots :) -Also some people said the following ruined the lore from ATLA (with them saying the original benders were the moon, bison, dragon and badger mole) but the way I see it is this: The turtles gave the bending, but as you can see by Wan doing the dragon dance at 8:30 it is these animals (and the moon) that actually make the person become a bender and master their element
It is more like the lion turtle give people the ability to bend an element then the element animals teaches the benders how to utilize it. People thought it was a retcon because we are all used to the explanation in ATLA which is normal since ATLA came first before LoK, the same way how some didn't like the direction of Ben 10 Alien Force up to Omniverse and reboot because we are all used to the world building of Ben 10 classic (well on Ben 10's case there are really parts of it that is trash lol)
Yeah, if one pays attention, no one in Wan's time uses a word bending, rather it's the power of the element. Bending is a discipline learned from dragons, bison, badgmols and Moon.
it is a retcon, because the original statement was 'People learned bending from the animals who became known as the original benders; Dragons, Air Bison, Badger Moles and the Moon Spirit. The lion turtles revealed that before then, people bended the energy within each other' then here the statement became 'People learned bending from Lion Turtles, who bended their energy to bestow it unto them, but then Wan refined it by observing animals, or at the least Firebending from a dragon, and people probably followed suit, also we never see them bend energy before that' they're not the same, it's the most 'from a certain point of view' retcon Avatar has because the two statements cannot coexist exactly; either Luke's Father Anakin Skywalker is dead or Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker and thus Luke's Father. The existence of Raava being the glow and the reason for the Avatar's existence and reincarnation cycle is expansion of lore, the change of origin for bending is a retcon.
they learned bending from the animals as we saw wan did he learned how to use the element as not just a simple power but a extension which is what bending is so it not a retcon@@dannybob42
@@dannybob42 No, it isn't because that was the "legend" behind how people learned bending. The lion turtle at the end of ATLA hinted to this story Bing how people got bending but they still neded to learn from the original benders for it to become extensions of themselves which is what Wan does with the dragon in the first half of his story and what happens throughout his journey with Raava. Open your mind to possibilities of storytelling and stop throwing storytelling terms incorrectly at things. It's like people who call Korra a Mary Sue despite one of the things about Mary Sue's is they never fail, and Korra fails a lot in just the first two seasons.
@@dannybob42its not a retcon. they specifically showed in tge episode that the lion turtles gave humans the ability to control the elements, but the original teachers are what taught the individual bending styles to the humans. in the avatar series, the styles of bending are just as important as the ability to control the elements
Kinda paradoxically, Beginnings is, like, the best and worst of Book 2. There's a LOT to love about it. Telling this whole meaningful story in only two episodes, having the two great spirits be based off of flatworms rather than something more cliche like dragons, subtle details that reward you for paying attention (e.g. we've been told from the beginning of AtLA that the first benders learned how to bend from the sky bison, the moon, the badger moles, and the dragons, and in this episode we see that even though all power over the elements came from the Lion Turtles, Wan learned from a dragon how to actually firebend, wielding the element as an art form and extension of himself rather than just chucking fireballs). I've personally always loved when stories about a legacy include a bit about how the legacy began, and this does not disappoint. But on the other hand, there's a lot of messed up stuff too. The big one that people commonly criticize is what Raava and Vaatu represent. Obviously from their appearances and a lot of visual symbolism, we get a classic yin and yang, which is in keeping with the aesthetics of the Avatar franchise. But the idea behind yin and yang is that it's two things that seem like opposites, but each contain an aspect of the other and completeness requires both. Like order and chaos, or masculine and feminine, science and art, shield and sword. One isn't better than the other. Yet the narrative treats Raava winning as the necessary win condition, and Vaatu winning as the lose condition. It's more of a basic, simplistic good vs evil than a yin vs yang, which is rather disappointing, especially since one of LoK's selling points was having the conflicts be a little greyer than the ones in AtLA (I'll talk more about that in a later episode).
That's a very good summary. "Disappointed" I think is the right word. These episodes aren't bad, far from it, but the writers took something that could have been complex, interesting, and explored the idea of what balance really means and simplified it into a binary good/bad.
Yeah, as much as I want to love season 2 I just can't get over how annoying it is to have the entire subject of spirits be simplified into "good spirit has to beat evil spirit". Raava being all good and Vaatu being all bad seriously weakens the story, it would be so much more interesting and meaningful if they actually balanced each other out and needed to live in harmony in order to succeed, rather than just having the "good one" beat the "bad one" In ATLA the spirits were respected, had their own personalities and in order to balance them they needed to understand why they were unbalanced in the first place (like the panda spirit with the burned forest). But TLOK turns almost all of them into mindless animals that get corrupted by magical evil forces and are fixed by waterbending at them just right
I never saw it as good vs evil fight per se, but definitely order vs chaos. Raava's order is what allows humanity to continue to survive, and Vaatu's chaos will likely kill off humanity. Vaatu's rant implies that he has won plenty of times in the past, before the first humans even existed. He is the reason why the spirit portals exist, because he tore open holes between the spiritual and physical planes of existence. Vaatu winning is only a "lose condition" because we are invested in humanity and our characters surviving. As Raava said, even if she loses she will form again to battle Vaatu in the distant future, but humanity will probably not survive to see it. Raava's order is what allowed Wan to seal and separate the two worlds apart. Vaatu's chaos wanted the two worlds to mix, which is why he ripped holes between the planes in the first place. In the end Vaatu did end up getting some of what he wanted, since Korra left the portals open to allow humans and spirits to exist together again, which certainly caused its fair share of chaos. Sure, its not as grey as some of the other villains may have been, but its something. Its definitely a harder concept to work with than some of the other antagonists.
@@withxoutxlife That interpretation definitely makes sense for the Vaatu part, but then the way they handled Raava doesn't really make sense. Because surely having her in power and sealing away Vaatu would *also* be a bad thing, since having too much order isn't good either (take Ba Sing Se for example) and would only lead to stagnation
Loved it when Wan became a fully fledged avatar and punched Vaatu in the face with a great big slab of earth! Beginnings was the best of Season 2! Until I saw this, I was wondering where this season was going.
I really like that, although this gives a "source" for where the ability to manipulate elements came from it doesnt undercut what the legend of aang set as a precident for how people learned bending. You see wan learning the dancing dragon form from the original firebender, the dragon, and then the people from the hunt saying how blown away they are by his control over fire. He wasnt just tossing fire around like they had been doing up until this point, he had become the first fire bender.
Book 2 gets too much unnecessary hate, and this is definitely a highlight of Book 2. Wan’s story is so damn cool and fun (both contextually and artistically; 6:07 my thoughts exactly), Raava’s history was so interesting, and Korra regaining her memory through the story is so nice.
I know for me, I just see Unalok as a poorly written villain. He is just kind of mustache twirly and over simple. I feel like all the other villains you could understand their point of view in their goals. Unalok is just like, I'm going to release Vatu and destroy the world, but I might be more powerful. The whole series receives some unnecessary hate, but I just straight don't like Unalok.
While I absolutely love these two episodes, season 2 was still easily the weakest avatar season for me. Most of that has to do with how the characters acted this season and all of their melodrama. That and I think the villain was the weakest main villain in the series. It also didn't help that he was yet another waterbender villain after season 1 already had both Amon and Tarlock. It also ends with a fairly important narrative device being removed from the series which kinda leaves a sour taste.
I also think Unalock wasn't written well. I knew he was the bad guy from the very start, nothing he did surprised me. Story elements in the first half of season 2 just feel unnecessary ESPECIALLY Bolin with the whole movie he is doing... it's just such a waste of time and feels like the writers couldn't think of anything to do with him. Korra herself felt very up and down with character development too. BUT I will say from Beginnings part 1 & 2 and onwards the story got better. Still the weakest season by far though
Nah, Season 2 is just bad😂 Don't get me wrong, there are great moments like Avatar Wan, Tenzen's argument with Bumi and Kya, the Fog of Lost Souls, and the REDACTED cameo (don't wanna spoil it for them), but everything else just did not work for me.
The story of Wan is so great and beautiful (the art reminded me of the animated Movie of Mulan, especially the beginning). Fun fact: the cycle of the avatar is based on the order of the elements that Wan had been gaining: Fire, air, water, earth = Roku, Aang, Korra...
This two-parter origin story of Avatar Wan is amazing! What’s also amazing is that the animation team for ATLA came back to work on LOK at this point, bonus!
It was Wan's statue that Jinora found back in episode 2, when Korra opened the Southern Spirit Portal. Someone took the screencap of Raava and Vaatu and did a color inversion. Basically, if you do a color inversion of Raava, you get Vaatu's coloring, and vice versa. Wan and Raava went to the Lion Turtles in the same order of the Avatar cycle: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
Aye-Aye the spirit who names Wan stinky is voiced by James Marsden who was Max Goof in both Goofy movies & Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Haku in english dub Spirited Away, Richie/Gear in Static Shock, young Clark Kent in 90s Superman animated series as well as many different heroes, villains & background characters in many DC animated series Batman Beyond, justice League, Teen Titans, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman, and Young Justice.
@@MsASMARVEL I usually like to mention that when people react to it, I also like to mention that child actor for Thackery Binx was Sean Murray aka McGee from NCIS.
We hear about this story from the lion turtle in ATLA. “Since the beginning of time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light”. It’s the story of Rava and Vaatu
@Xavion251Alexander It's not a matter of nihilism. It's that usually Avatar explores more Eastern philosophies where the point is finding balance and harmony, but Rava and Vaatu are literally black and white morality and perpetuate a very incorrect misconception about the meaning of Yin and Yang. The problem should have been that Wan had caused imbalance by tipping the scales in favor of one spirit when both are meant to be equal, not that one is absolutely good and the other is absolutely evil.
@@XavionofTheraspirits were neutral beings in Avatar: the last airbender, there's no good or evil, but them they create DARK spirits that are evil because they are DARK, and also create an spirit of light who is good, they say that raava should defeat vaatu to restore balance, but if light wins upon balance there is no balance, it would be balance if they coexist, not fight. I belive that good and evil are not literal or material things, they are subjective and depends of each others point of view.
The original airbender tattoos looks a lot like Raava. I wonder if those evolved to become arrows because the next generations never saw Raava, so they eventually forgot that connection and assumed it was based on the air bisons' markings. I'm also so glad they explained how more air bisons came after Appa when he had seemed to be the only one left after the whole air nation was wiped out
I was waiting for you guys to get to these episodes! These episodes are some of my favorites in TLoK. Season 2 isn't even bad. I'll admit the others are stronger, though.
Season 2 has some cool stuff in it. Wan, Varrick, etc. But they made Bolin a self-absorbed asshole, dragged out the love triangle that everyone hates, handed Lin a stupid ball, did a lousy job of establishing why Unalaq wanted to become a Dark Avatar (IMO, like he talks about the world being out of balance but exactly what does he need to be fixed and how does turning into a Dark Avatar fix that? He just comes off as evil for evil's sake), and the storytelling was off - Korra takes Unalaq as her teacher but he never really teaches her anything except that spirit-goodening trick, and then only by demonstrating it a couple of times, then there's a whole-ass civil war that we never get to see because Korra leaves to get help (and then never gets it). I don't hate the kaiju fight ending but it's super handwavey - what actually happened to Unavaatu? where did he go? - and I can see why some people hate it. Honestly, the first time I saw Korra was when it was airing and I couldn't get through season 2. I tapped out just before the Wan episodes and didn't go back to the show for months because I finally got curious how it ended. I think it's easier if you can binge the episodes and power through the first half.
Season 2 is not a bad season. The others are just better. It’s the same as The Great Divide. Not a bad episode of a cartoon, just the weakest of the show as a whole. And it also had stories told through different artstyles as the highlight.
I think these two episodes get a lot of hate because some people think it rewrites the canon. They think that, because humans get the power of bending from the lion-turtles, it rewrites ATLA canon that stated humans learned bending by studying “bending creatures” like badger-moles, dragons, and air bison. Those people are dumb. It doesn’t re-write the canon. Humans merely gained the power to bend from the lion-turtles. But studying the bending animals of the world helped them to refine the bending into unique fighting systems. There’s even a line in the episodes that says as much. One of the firebenders remarks that Wan is using his fire bending as an extension of his body. This is what that line refers to.
The Avatar origin is always something I have slightly mixed (though mostly positive) feelings on. On one hand it's beautifully animated and does give some context as to how the Avatar is the bridge between the spirit and humaj realms since that's been established since the start but never why. On the other I'm not a fan of it essentially boiling the conflict of the season down to Vaatu is bad and Raava is good. Considering we established that spirits are neither inherently evil or good but then you could say that whichever way they lean depends if vaatu or raava is influencing them so... Yeah mixed feelings
In theology the word 'avatar' actually means to be possessed by a god or godlike entity. Raava being the spirit 'possessing' the body of each avatar, literally making them an 'avatar'
Idk if its foreshadowing but in ATLA book 2 episode 1 Roku says: "If you're killed in the avatar state, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the avatar will cease to exist" This here is exactly why. In the Avatar state the person channels Ravaa/her energy. So if the person dies in that state, Ravaa dies as well and thus the avatar. So good.
I'm so happy that ppl actually appreciate Legend of Korra. When I first watched it, I fell in love immediately! It's not perfect, but it definitely doesn't deserve the hate it gets. I can't wait till yall get to season 3. Best season!
The animation, the voice acting and the sound effects are georges but the moment Wan apologies to Ravaa and breaths for the last time makes me tear up for real.
Just so you guys know, there IS a Legend of Korra video game. I have it on Playstation... the only issue is I think it's been discontinued because it's no longer available for purchase in the shop. Sorry.. But it was a fun game! lol
Something these episodes solidified for me are that the spirits are kinda dicks. They’re holier than thou jerks that invaded the human world and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction! Which when you think about it kinda makes sense for them considering they’re unknowable alien beings.
These two episode alone are enough the convince me to tell any Avatar fans to watch Korra. The amount of lore and world building in this show is essential for truly understanding what the Avatar Universe is.
or just watch Van. Good thing is its possible to watch without knowing anything of Korra. I would rewatch these 2 episodes more likely than the whole series ever again
I love these two episodes so much! I know some people don’t like those season but I really enjoyed it. Just like every good show you’re bound to have few not so strong episodes, no need for the extreme hate some people give it.
Would love to see a season in the avatar universe that tells the story of each avatar in two episode segments like this. Obviously we can’t see them all because there’s too many, but maybe the next couple after wan, and then the few previous ones to Aang.
in my head the reason she got to a place where they could help her is the island she flies by at the end of the 2nd part is a lion turtle that made sure she got there.
Outside of some of the aspects of the Good Kite and Evil Kite, this has always been my favorite episodes in Avatar. It's not perfect to me, but it's close.
Every Avatar reborn, what if it's not just them? Every Avatar have an animal companion like Appa, Naga and Roku's dragon. Maybe they are all re incarnations of Mula
Finally!! I was already looking forward to seeing you react to these episodes, which in my opinion are one of the best things they added to the Avatar story. Greetings from Brazil!
@20:40 you mention that if the Avatar is not around then the spirits/ Vaatu will come back. Funny enough Aang was missing for 100 years and nothing bad involving spirits happened. Its a weird thing to imagine our first experience with the Avatar world being about spirits so i understand why they didnt start with that but also they definitely didnt think that far ahead with the Raava and Vaatu stuff im sure.
I absolutely loved this 2 part special. Despite being a huge fan of this series for years like countless others, there were many questions I personally had that were never really answered. Specifically in regard to the power of the Avatar. Like why exactly could no other human ever bend more than one element besides the Avatar? Why was only the Avatar regarded as the bridge between the human and spirit world? Why is the Avatar always reincarnated every time they die? And why has there never been a past Avatar that was evil? When I first saw this special for the first time on TV in 2014, I was blown away by it. For not only did it tell the origins of the Avatar but it also answered those questions I had for years of what made them so special.
people hated this because they thought it conflicted with ATLA lore although it clearly expands in it - the raw power boost in the avatar state is raava, raava connects the avatar to their past lives so in the avatar state the avatar still gains the experiences of their past life - if anything the original ATLA explanation that it was solely the past lives didn’t explain why the AS boosted power so exponentially rather than just giving them mastery
"I learned earthbending from the original benders, the badger moles." You lie, Toph. "We learned waterbending from watching the Moon push and pull the tide." Katara, stop lying. "We can't learn firebending from the original Masters. My uncle killed the last one." Zuko, you lie in more ways than one. To me it seems like the original show followed this idea of humans learning bending from nature and not being given bending arbitrarily (overuse of the canonically mythical lion turtles) In the original show when something major happens to the natural world (physical world) it also reflects upon the spiritual world (spirit world). Spirits could traverse between the spirit world and the physical world (the panda and the owl) as spirits were forces of nature and guardians of said nature. Why does no one have a record of this new history? But sure let's forget about what is already established. No conflict here. No Sir. Korra did not butcher the concept of the spirits (and spirit world) and the origin of bending. What else that is canonical in the original show is apparently untrue. Wan's story has a good independent story (I don't consider canonical for how many times it breaks established canon) and beautiful artwork The legend of Korra is good if you overlook the Kaiju battle, the giant platinum robot (it's supposed to be a rare metal), how they handled spirits, and rewriting the origin of bending (in the order of annoyance, order of frustration in reverse)
season 2 for me personally the overall weakest but for these 2 episodes alone I still love it. When Raava was like „we are bonded forever“- the amount of chills I swear🩵 people saying Korra is bad are mad tripping for so many damn reasons and these 2 episodes are proof
I love these episodes and I hope that as all of these Avatar projects pick up that they decide to give us either a Wan movie or a Wan miniseries. That'd be so great, especially if they kept the same art style. Unfortunately this episode seems to confuse an awful lot of people who think it is retconning the origins of bending. However if you pay close enough attention will you see that they are given the "power of the element" and that the actual martial arts of the bending styles do not come with it. However we see Wan training with the dragons and he became the first true fire bender because of it. Even the people from his city said Wan was using fire in ways they had never seen before, like it was an extension of his body. This is because he was bending it. Once it has been mastered from its original source it can be taught to others, but they must already possess the power of the element to be able to use it at all in the first place, let alone to bend it. Here's a fun fact for the story told in these episodes: the creators said in an interview they wanted to put this origin story into ATLA but felt they never found a proper place for it there. Here's one more little tidbit about this episode and about the worldbuilding of this show in general. When they say things like "10,000 years" "10,000 lifetimes" or "10,000" whatevers, 10,000 isn't meant to be taken literally but is instead to be viewed as a placeholder to mean "an uncountable many" or "an unknowable many."
i havent seen anyone mention it yet, so i will cuz i just realized it watching yalls reaction. the oasis that wan was healed in was the oasis in the north pole where katara got the water that saved aang. the bridge and the waters healing properties was the biggest detail i missed and im so mad i didnt realize it sooner.
I love these episodes this season was just created after season one and they didn't plan that far but the season has such a convoluted story that they didn't plan for
What i hated about these episodes was the spirits invaded the human world and forced the humans to live on lion turtles then get pissed when humans fight back. Honestly Korra should have never let them come back they still want too live by their own rules not try to coexist even the humans are guilty of this its not going to work
This is my favorite 2 part of the entire Avatar Franchise :) And it will put you in a very good perspective for the end of the season and the beginning of season 3. Enjoy the show guys , i watched all of your ATLA episode so im a hardcore fan of both show. Continue the good work guy and that go for the editing department too.
I love it when reactors are shocked about other lion turtles… i mean think about it…. Did yall think that one day…. a singular lion turtle just… popped into existence from nothingness to go help Aang? XD
People dislike these episodes because they had certain expectations of how the world of Avatar works, and writing wise these expectations and theories are often more powerful than whatever story they could tell. The difference is that you guys are just going with the flow, vibing and enjoying what you're watching, rather than sitting there with the expactations of more than 10 years of being a fan. It's definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be! The only thing I'll "fault" Legend of Korra for is that it had to follow up on the masterpiece that is Aangs story, but it is good in its own right! But being an 8/10 sequel is still seen as a downgrade if the original was a 9/10..
Looks like the avatars has the legacy of being stubborn, goofy and doing illegal things😂 (Wan stole the firebending, Aang used to do some scam with the gang and Korra threatened lots of people *that judge deserved it though*)
The story is beautiful. But establishing the literal god and devil spits in the face of the yin yang It is a fundamental misunderstanding and it hurts the series as a whole
"we are bonded forever." Is such a dope ass line with the music swell.
In a semi-related note, I find it cool how, while Wan is super powerful when Raava is bonded with him, the moment he gets some of that harmonic convergence energy, he just enters a whole other level and completely washes Vaatu.
Guru Pathik was really on one, talking about the cosmic energy of the Avatar state. As much a space wizard as a spirit 😂
Fun fact in ATLA in the episode “Zuko alone” he walks right through the area where Wan passed away just incredible storytelling.
proof?
@@shaun2148 it looks the same..
@@norberto6005 I think hundreds of battlefields lookes the same. Dont forget its over 10000 years in between. World change often. No way that a place stayed so long the same
@@xSpyroTheDragonIt’s the “field of large earth coins “ it’s been confirmed by the writers
@@shaun2148 the writers said so.
It was actually someone else who helped me realize with these episodes why they call them the Avatar. Cause an avatar is like a vessel that holds a spirit. The creators of ATLA said they actually wanted to add this origin story to the original series but couldn't fit it in so it exists with Korra now.
Every hero's journey is basically about learning to be the embodiment of our higher self. To become more of who you truly are, a light spirit in a material body and world.
Yeah, suuure they wanted. That’s nothing even alludes to it in ATLA, not a single thing.
@@shmekelfreckles8157 Believe what you want, this is what they have claimed. Does it matter if you believe it or not? Nope.
Yeah, nothing. Nothing like a Lion Turtle was in the original series at all.
"We are bonded forever" isn't just the best line in the series, it may be one of the hardest lines in fiction
That scene gives me chills every time
In all of fiction? Come on now.
"When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." Is right there.
@@TheRibottoStudios it ain't my choice for the number 1 quote, but I can respect that it's yours! It's a good quote, too
@@starvein8841it goes so hard
"We will be together for all of your lifetimes" is amazing too
Do you remember that image of the lion turtle we saw in the library in Avatar: The Last Airbender? There is a theory that the figure talking to the lion turtle in that image was actually Avatar Wan.
A lot of people got upset that this retconned the origin of bending and so bending was no longer taught by the Dragons, Sky Bison, Moon, and Badger Moles. I see it as the Lion Turtles gave humans bending but they learned proper bending from the Dragons, Sky Bison, Moon, and Badger Moles. Notice how everyone's bending is super unfocused. Only Wan's resembles the martial art of the present.
They literally show Wan doing the Dragon Dance with a dragon. The people who obsess over LoK "retconning" Avatar because they're hung up on the ATLA explanation of bending being 100% true and accurate even though the lore is 10,000 years old (and then they've invented their own headcanon about exactly how people got bending from animals and they're mad that LoK doesn't match their headcanon) are the worst kind of nerds.
In what context does "learning something" (i.e. bending) mean "gained the capacity to do something"? That's not what "learning" is.
Yeah they quite literally show Wan learning from the Dragons. People had come to believe that they somehow obtained an innate ability by studying these animals and moon, but in reality they just learned techniques from them and the bending ability itself was given by the Lion Turtles- which at the point of ATLA seem to be viewed as either mythical or extinct beings. They clearly remember them in some form, given the motifs around in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation.
@@sterthester736 If the animals gave them the innate ability, what was stopping Sokka from getting airbending from Appa? Makes no sense.
Well.. The Lion Turtles give people the bending but the element's animals teach how to bend it properly (Wan literally improved his firebending through dragon dance)
I think what really made this Wan backstory stand out was the stylistic art choice to give it a great atmoshphere for expanding the lore. Also, Fun Fact: the original Avatar creators wanted to tell this story in the original series with Aang but could never find the right time to include it in the story. Since Aang was already very in tune with his spirituality, I thought it was perfect that Korra was the one to go on this journey.
definitely agree a thousand percent❤
“We are bonded forever” never fails to give me chills
Did you notice the chronological order of the elements Wan received? Wan was the first fire Avatar, then got the elements air, then water and later earth. That‘s how the order started and continued and because air nomads are so attached to spirits, the first air avatar was able to find a connection to Wan and he told him the purpose of his/her life.
Couple of things:
-19:50 this shows why the avatar will seize to exist if someone is killed in the state. Bc killing someone in the avatar state will also kill Raava
-14:20 Raava is just the equavelent of having three extra inventory slots :)
-Also some people said the following ruined the lore from ATLA (with them saying the original benders were the moon, bison, dragon and badger mole) but the way I see it is this: The turtles gave the bending, but as you can see by Wan doing the dragon dance at 8:30 it is these animals (and the moon) that actually make the person become a bender and master their element
3 extra inventory slots lmao perfect
It is more like the lion turtle give people the ability to bend an element then the element animals teaches the benders how to utilize it. People thought it was a retcon because we are all used to the explanation in ATLA which is normal since ATLA came first before LoK, the same way how some didn't like the direction of Ben 10 Alien Force up to Omniverse and reboot because we are all used to the world building of Ben 10 classic (well on Ben 10's case there are really parts of it that is trash lol)
Yeah, if one pays attention, no one in Wan's time uses a word bending, rather it's the power of the element. Bending is a discipline learned from dragons, bison, badgmols and Moon.
I love these episodes and think people don't understand the difference between a Retcon and expansion of lore when it comes to these two episodes
it is a retcon, because the original statement was 'People learned bending from the animals who became known as the original benders; Dragons, Air Bison, Badger Moles and the Moon Spirit. The lion turtles revealed that before then, people bended the energy within each other'
then here the statement became 'People learned bending from Lion Turtles, who bended their energy to bestow it unto them, but then Wan refined it by observing animals, or at the least Firebending from a dragon, and people probably followed suit, also we never see them bend energy before that'
they're not the same, it's the most 'from a certain point of view' retcon Avatar has because the two statements cannot coexist exactly; either Luke's Father Anakin Skywalker is dead or Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker and thus Luke's Father. The existence of Raava being the glow and the reason for the Avatar's existence and reincarnation cycle is expansion of lore, the change of origin for bending is a retcon.
they learned bending from the animals as we saw wan did he learned how to use the element as not just a simple power but a extension which is what bending is so it not a retcon@@dannybob42
@@dannybob42 No, it isn't because that was the "legend" behind how people learned bending. The lion turtle at the end of ATLA hinted to this story Bing how people got bending but they still neded to learn from the original benders for it to become extensions of themselves which is what Wan does with the dragon in the first half of his story and what happens throughout his journey with Raava. Open your mind to possibilities of storytelling and stop throwing storytelling terms incorrectly at things. It's like people who call Korra a Mary Sue despite one of the things about Mary Sue's is they never fail, and Korra fails a lot in just the first two seasons.
@@dannybob42its not a retcon. they specifically showed in tge episode that the lion turtles gave humans the ability to control the elements, but the original teachers are what taught the individual bending styles to the humans. in the avatar series, the styles of bending are just as important as the ability to control the elements
@@dannybob42no people learnt the martial arts of bending not the abilities themselves
At first the order of the world was that whoever owned the weapons had the power, then it became whoever owned BENDING had the power.
Just as Amon said
So might makes right prevails
Kinda paradoxically, Beginnings is, like, the best and worst of Book 2. There's a LOT to love about it. Telling this whole meaningful story in only two episodes, having the two great spirits be based off of flatworms rather than something more cliche like dragons, subtle details that reward you for paying attention (e.g. we've been told from the beginning of AtLA that the first benders learned how to bend from the sky bison, the moon, the badger moles, and the dragons, and in this episode we see that even though all power over the elements came from the Lion Turtles, Wan learned from a dragon how to actually firebend, wielding the element as an art form and extension of himself rather than just chucking fireballs). I've personally always loved when stories about a legacy include a bit about how the legacy began, and this does not disappoint. But on the other hand, there's a lot of messed up stuff too. The big one that people commonly criticize is what Raava and Vaatu represent.
Obviously from their appearances and a lot of visual symbolism, we get a classic yin and yang, which is in keeping with the aesthetics of the Avatar franchise. But the idea behind yin and yang is that it's two things that seem like opposites, but each contain an aspect of the other and completeness requires both. Like order and chaos, or masculine and feminine, science and art, shield and sword. One isn't better than the other. Yet the narrative treats Raava winning as the necessary win condition, and Vaatu winning as the lose condition. It's more of a basic, simplistic good vs evil than a yin vs yang, which is rather disappointing, especially since one of LoK's selling points was having the conflicts be a little greyer than the ones in AtLA (I'll talk more about that in a later episode).
That's a very good summary. "Disappointed" I think is the right word. These episodes aren't bad, far from it, but the writers took something that could have been complex, interesting, and explored the idea of what balance really means and simplified it into a binary good/bad.
Yeah, as much as I want to love season 2 I just can't get over how annoying it is to have the entire subject of spirits be simplified into "good spirit has to beat evil spirit". Raava being all good and Vaatu being all bad seriously weakens the story, it would be so much more interesting and meaningful if they actually balanced each other out and needed to live in harmony in order to succeed, rather than just having the "good one" beat the "bad one"
In ATLA the spirits were respected, had their own personalities and in order to balance them they needed to understand why they were unbalanced in the first place (like the panda spirit with the burned forest). But TLOK turns almost all of them into mindless animals that get corrupted by magical evil forces and are fixed by waterbending at them just right
I never saw it as good vs evil fight per se, but definitely order vs chaos. Raava's order is what allows humanity to continue to survive, and Vaatu's chaos will likely kill off humanity. Vaatu's rant implies that he has won plenty of times in the past, before the first humans even existed. He is the reason why the spirit portals exist, because he tore open holes between the spiritual and physical planes of existence. Vaatu winning is only a "lose condition" because we are invested in humanity and our characters surviving. As Raava said, even if she loses she will form again to battle Vaatu in the distant future, but humanity will probably not survive to see it.
Raava's order is what allowed Wan to seal and separate the two worlds apart. Vaatu's chaos wanted the two worlds to mix, which is why he ripped holes between the planes in the first place. In the end Vaatu did end up getting some of what he wanted, since Korra left the portals open to allow humans and spirits to exist together again, which certainly caused its fair share of chaos. Sure, its not as grey as some of the other villains may have been, but its something. Its definitely a harder concept to work with than some of the other antagonists.
@@withxoutxlife That interpretation definitely makes sense for the Vaatu part, but then the way they handled Raava doesn't really make sense. Because surely having her in power and sealing away Vaatu would *also* be a bad thing, since having too much order isn't good either (take Ba Sing Se for example) and would only lead to stagnation
Yeah if we ever get to Korra in the live action, I hope they manage to change this a bit.
Avatar Wan is voiced by the same guy who voices Invincible
I thought that voice sounded familiar
Stephen Yuen is his name
@@theawesomeman9821 i think its glenn from walking dead, which is cool.
Loved it when Wan became a fully fledged avatar and punched Vaatu in the face with a great big slab of earth! Beginnings was the best of Season 2! Until I saw this, I was wondering where this season was going.
ALL RIGHT, HERE WE GO!
A season within a season. I don't even know how they did it, but this fully feels like a full blown season in just 2 episodes.
I really like that, although this gives a "source" for where the ability to manipulate elements came from it doesnt undercut what the legend of aang set as a precident for how people learned bending. You see wan learning the dancing dragon form from the original firebender, the dragon, and then the people from the hunt saying how blown away they are by his control over fire. He wasnt just tossing fire around like they had been doing up until this point, he had become the first fire bender.
Book 2 gets too much unnecessary hate, and this is definitely a highlight of Book 2. Wan’s story is so damn cool and fun (both contextually and artistically; 6:07 my thoughts exactly), Raava’s history was so interesting, and Korra regaining her memory through the story is so nice.
I know for me, I just see Unalok as a poorly written villain. He is just kind of mustache twirly and over simple. I feel like all the other villains you could understand their point of view in their goals. Unalok is just like, I'm going to release Vatu and destroy the world, but I might be more powerful. The whole series receives some unnecessary hate, but I just straight don't like Unalok.
To be honest season 2 writing is kinda garbage. The first avatar's story is one of the few good things in this season.
While I absolutely love these two episodes, season 2 was still easily the weakest avatar season for me. Most of that has to do with how the characters acted this season and all of their melodrama. That and I think the villain was the weakest main villain in the series. It also didn't help that he was yet another waterbender villain after season 1 already had both Amon and Tarlock. It also ends with a fairly important narrative device being removed from the series which kinda leaves a sour taste.
I also think Unalock wasn't written well. I knew he was the bad guy from the very start, nothing he did surprised me. Story elements in the first half of season 2 just feel unnecessary ESPECIALLY Bolin with the whole movie he is doing... it's just such a waste of time and feels like the writers couldn't think of anything to do with him. Korra herself felt very up and down with character development too. BUT I will say from Beginnings part 1 & 2 and onwards the story got better. Still the weakest season by far though
Nah, Season 2 is just bad😂 Don't get me wrong, there are great moments like Avatar Wan, Tenzen's argument with Bumi and Kya, the Fog of Lost Souls, and the REDACTED cameo (don't wanna spoil it for them), but everything else just did not work for me.
The story of Wan is so great and beautiful (the art reminded me of the animated Movie of Mulan, especially the beginning).
Fun fact: the cycle of the avatar is based on the order of the elements that Wan had been gaining:
Fire, air, water, earth = Roku, Aang, Korra...
And Genji
This two-parter origin story of Avatar Wan is amazing! What’s also amazing is that the animation team for ATLA came back to work on LOK at this point, bonus!
It was Wan's statue that Jinora found back in episode 2, when Korra opened the Southern Spirit Portal.
Someone took the screencap of Raava and Vaatu and did a color inversion. Basically, if you do a color inversion of Raava, you get Vaatu's coloring, and vice versa.
Wan and Raava went to the Lion Turtles in the same order of the Avatar cycle: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
Aye-Aye the spirit who names Wan stinky is voiced by James Marsden who was Max Goof in both Goofy movies & Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, Haku in english dub Spirited Away, Richie/Gear in Static Shock, young Clark Kent in 90s Superman animated series as well as many different heroes, villains & background characters in many DC animated series Batman Beyond, justice League, Teen Titans, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman, and Young Justice.
Don’t forget Kovu in Lion King 2
And the voice of Binx in Hocus Pocus :D
@@MsASMARVEL I usually like to mention that when people react to it, I also like to mention that child actor for Thackery Binx was Sean Murray aka McGee from NCIS.
THE BEST EPISODES OF SEASON 2!!!!!!
We hear about this story from the lion turtle in ATLA. “Since the beginning of time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light”. It’s the story of Rava and Vaatu
Even if i hate the concept of "spirit of good and spirit of evil", i still love wan's story, for me it's the best episodes of book 2.
How dare writers not be nihilists...
@Xavion251Alexander It's not a matter of nihilism. It's that usually Avatar explores more Eastern philosophies where the point is finding balance and harmony, but Rava and Vaatu are literally black and white morality and perpetuate a very incorrect misconception about the meaning of Yin and Yang.
The problem should have been that Wan had caused imbalance by tipping the scales in favor of one spirit when both are meant to be equal, not that one is absolutely good and the other is absolutely evil.
@@XavionofTheraspirits were neutral beings in Avatar: the last airbender, there's no good or evil, but them they create DARK spirits that are evil because they are DARK, and also create an spirit of light who is good, they say that raava should defeat vaatu to restore balance, but if light wins upon balance there is no balance, it would be balance if they coexist, not fight. I belive that good and evil are not literal or material things, they are subjective and depends of each others point of view.
@@sanfransiscon Eastern cultures believe in good and evil. Every culture aside from modern nihilists does.
@@XavionofTheraactually no, they think morality is an artificial concept, there's no evil or good.
The episodes that COMPLETELY altered the story of S2
Behold the two episodes that make season 2 worth it.
What about The Guide and A New Spiritual Age? Those were really good.
I agree with you @@vetarlittorf1807
@@vetarlittorf1807people just love to hate Season 2
💯% Agreed.
I don't hate S2, but from this point on the story took a HARD turn that creates some HEAVY whiplash.
The original airbender tattoos looks a lot like Raava. I wonder if those evolved to become arrows because the next generations never saw Raava, so they eventually forgot that connection and assumed it was based on the air bisons' markings. I'm also so glad they explained how more air bisons came after Appa when he had seemed to be the only one left after the whole air nation was wiped out
I was waiting for you guys to get to these episodes! These episodes are some of my favorites in TLoK. Season 2 isn't even bad. I'll admit the others are stronger, though.
I really like season 2
You’re right, this season isn’t bad, it’s just one of the weaker ones of the series.
Season 2 has some cool stuff in it. Wan, Varrick, etc. But they made Bolin a self-absorbed asshole, dragged out the love triangle that everyone hates, handed Lin a stupid ball, did a lousy job of establishing why Unalaq wanted to become a Dark Avatar (IMO, like he talks about the world being out of balance but exactly what does he need to be fixed and how does turning into a Dark Avatar fix that? He just comes off as evil for evil's sake), and the storytelling was off - Korra takes Unalaq as her teacher but he never really teaches her anything except that spirit-goodening trick, and then only by demonstrating it a couple of times, then there's a whole-ass civil war that we never get to see because Korra leaves to get help (and then never gets it). I don't hate the kaiju fight ending but it's super handwavey - what actually happened to Unavaatu? where did he go? - and I can see why some people hate it.
Honestly, the first time I saw Korra was when it was airing and I couldn't get through season 2. I tapped out just before the Wan episodes and didn't go back to the show for months because I finally got curious how it ended. I think it's easier if you can binge the episodes and power through the first half.
Season 2 is not a bad season. The others are just better. It’s the same as The Great Divide. Not a bad episode of a cartoon, just the weakest of the show as a whole. And it also had stories told through different artstyles as the highlight.
8:29 shows the dance of the dragon, that zuko and aang performed :D
Fun fact: to my knowledge, it was stated the spirit oasis is the same place katara's special water came from
I think these two episodes get a lot of hate because some people think it rewrites the canon. They think that, because humans get the power of bending from the lion-turtles, it rewrites ATLA canon that stated humans learned bending by studying “bending creatures” like badger-moles, dragons, and air bison. Those people are dumb. It doesn’t re-write the canon. Humans merely gained the power to bend from the lion-turtles. But studying the bending animals of the world helped them to refine the bending into unique fighting systems. There’s even a line in the episodes that says as much. One of the firebenders remarks that Wan is using his fire bending as an extension of his body. This is what that line refers to.
I absolutely love these episodes seeing the first avatar is awesome
At 2:11 "Is that a normal squirrel" had me dying 😂
A lot of people complain about these episodes “retconning” stuff but IMO it’s a great story that expands on the world
The Avatar origin is always something I have slightly mixed (though mostly positive) feelings on.
On one hand it's beautifully animated and does give some context as to how the Avatar is the bridge between the spirit and humaj realms since that's been established since the start but never why.
On the other I'm not a fan of it essentially boiling the conflict of the season down to Vaatu is bad and Raava is good. Considering we established that spirits are neither inherently evil or good but then you could say that whichever way they lean depends if vaatu or raava is influencing them so... Yeah mixed feelings
This is my favorite part of Korra. Can't understand why people hate the story of Wan. I could watch a whole season on it.
Steven Yeun did an amazing job as Avatar Wan. I dont know for certain, but I believe this was his first voice acting role.
In theology the word 'avatar' actually means to be possessed by a god or godlike entity. Raava being the spirit 'possessing' the body of each avatar, literally making them an 'avatar'
I always felt these episodes were supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a new Avatar show because how different it felt from Kora
Idk if its foreshadowing but in ATLA book 2 episode 1 Roku says: "If you're killed in the avatar state, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the avatar will cease to exist"
This here is exactly why. In the Avatar state the person channels Ravaa/her energy. So if the person dies in that state, Ravaa dies as well and thus the avatar. So good.
Technically, classically, an Avatar is a physical embodiment of a god. So in that lense Won became the Avatar of Raava the spirit of light.
I'm so happy that ppl actually appreciate Legend of Korra. When I first watched it, I fell in love immediately! It's not perfect, but it definitely doesn't deserve the hate it gets. I can't wait till yall get to season 3. Best season!
The animation, the voice acting and the sound effects are georges but the moment Wan apologies to Ravaa and breaths for the last time makes me tear up for real.
(At 9:55) Wan: considering you're causing a lot damage around here and you got MY attention doing this, Yes, It _does_ "concern me".
7:46 Well, that answers the questions about the wood guy
This is one of the many things I love about this show.
"We are bonded forever!" I need that on a t-shirt with a picture of Avatar State Wan. Chills every time.
Just so you guys know, there IS a Legend of Korra video game. I have it on Playstation... the only issue is I think it's been discontinued because it's no longer available for purchase in the shop. Sorry.. But it was a fun game! lol
AKA "they watched a LOOOT of Miyazaki."
Something these episodes solidified for me are that the spirits are kinda dicks. They’re holier than thou jerks that invaded the human world and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction!
Which when you think about it kinda makes sense for them considering they’re unknowable alien beings.
i loved this episode so much. it made season 2 worth the cringy relationship drama, unfortunate good/evil spirit thing, and spirit lazerbeams
These two episode alone are enough the convince me to tell any Avatar fans to watch Korra. The amount of lore and world building in this show is essential for truly understanding what the Avatar Universe is.
or just watch Van. Good thing is its possible to watch without knowing anything of Korra. I would rewatch these 2 episodes more likely than the whole series ever again
I've never been able to see Wan the same way since someone said that he was the "number Wan Avatar".
I love these two episodes so much! I know some people don’t like those season but I really enjoyed it. Just like every good show you’re bound to have few not so strong episodes, no need for the extreme hate some people give it.
While Season 2 may not be the best one, these 2 episodes are for sure one of The Best in the entire Franchise.
That story deserved its own show. Not just 2 episodes
Would love to see a season in the avatar universe that tells the story of each avatar in two episode segments like this. Obviously we can’t see them all because there’s too many, but maybe the next couple after wan, and then the few previous ones to Aang.
Avatar Wan story is one of my favorite part of Avatar: The Legend of Korra
in my head the reason she got to a place where they could help her is the island she flies by at the end of the 2nd part is a lion turtle that made sure she got there.
Outside of some of the aspects of the Good Kite and Evil Kite, this has always been my favorite episodes in Avatar. It's not perfect to me, but it's close.
The avatar wan episode finally
I don't really follow Korra reactions too much but I ALWAYS check in for this
Every Avatar reborn, what if it's not just them? Every Avatar have an animal companion like Appa, Naga and Roku's dragon. Maybe they are all re incarnations of Mula
Roku's dragon's name was Fang. It was mentioned in the flashback.
Wan's story is probably some of the best in Korra. People who say they don't like Korra usually have this as an exception
everyone: "origin stories are boring and are a dime a dozen"
korra: "hold my beer"
I actually like to headcanon that an avatars spirit animal reincarnates with them, like Fang to Appa, Appa to Naga, and so on.
Finally!! I was already looking forward to seeing you react to these episodes, which in my opinion are one of the best things they added to the Avatar story. Greetings from Brazil!
after rewatching this korra is the goat sacrifices had to be made since wan method didnt work
@20:40 you mention that if the Avatar is not around then the spirits/ Vaatu will come back. Funny enough Aang was missing for 100 years and nothing bad involving spirits happened. Its a weird thing to imagine our first experience with the Avatar world being about spirits so i understand why they didnt start with that but also they definitely didnt think that far ahead with the Raava and Vaatu stuff im sure.
In my opinion these are the best episodes in korra. Everytime I rewatch I got chills
Well that was it of good stuff in season 2, see you guys in 4 weeks when the good stuff returns.
This is probably my favorite story from Avatar, seeing the original avatar was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen in my life.
I absolutely loved this 2 part special. Despite being a huge fan of this series for years like countless others, there were many questions I personally had that were never really answered. Specifically in regard to the power of the Avatar.
Like why exactly could no other human ever bend more than one element besides the Avatar? Why was only the Avatar regarded as the bridge between the human and spirit world? Why is the Avatar always reincarnated every time they die? And why has there never been a past Avatar that was evil?
When I first saw this special for the first time on TV in 2014, I was blown away by it. For not only did it tell the origins of the Avatar but it also answered those questions I had for years of what made them so special.
people hated this because they thought it conflicted with ATLA lore although it clearly expands in it - the raw power boost in the avatar state is raava, raava connects the avatar to their past lives so in the avatar state the avatar still gains the experiences of their past life - if anything the original ATLA explanation that it was solely the past lives didn’t explain why the AS boosted power so exponentially rather than just giving them mastery
"I learned earthbending from the original benders, the badger moles." You lie, Toph.
"We learned waterbending from watching the Moon push and pull the tide." Katara, stop lying.
"We can't learn firebending from the original Masters. My uncle killed the last one." Zuko, you lie in more ways than one.
To me it seems like the original show followed this idea of humans learning bending from nature and not being given bending arbitrarily (overuse of the canonically mythical lion turtles)
In the original show when something major happens to the natural world (physical world) it also reflects upon the spiritual world (spirit world). Spirits could traverse between the spirit world and the physical world (the panda and the owl) as spirits were forces of nature and guardians of said nature.
Why does no one have a record of this new history? But sure let's forget about what is already established. No conflict here. No Sir. Korra did not butcher the concept of the spirits (and spirit world) and the origin of bending. What else that is canonical in the original show is apparently untrue.
Wan's story has a good independent story (I don't consider canonical for how many times it breaks established canon) and beautiful artwork
The legend of Korra is good if you overlook the Kaiju battle, the giant platinum robot (it's supposed to be a rare metal), how they handled spirits, and rewriting the origin of bending (in the order of annoyance, order of frustration in reverse)
@@44burn1"Learning" does not mean "granted the capacity to do something". Those are two very different things.
You can tell that the air nomads already had knowledge/conection with spitirual stuff before others did.
I love that the order that Wan gets the elements is what becomes the Avatar cycle. Fire,Air,Water,Earth
These two episodes were literally the best episodes of the entire season.
season 2 for me personally the overall weakest but for these 2 episodes alone I still love it. When Raava was like „we are bonded forever“- the amount of chills I swear🩵 people saying Korra is bad are mad tripping for so many damn reasons and these 2 episodes are proof
I love these episodes and I hope that as all of these Avatar projects pick up that they decide to give us either a Wan movie or a Wan miniseries. That'd be so great, especially if they kept the same art style.
Unfortunately this episode seems to confuse an awful lot of people who think it is retconning the origins of bending. However if you pay close enough attention will you see that they are given the "power of the element" and that the actual martial arts of the bending styles do not come with it. However we see Wan training with the dragons and he became the first true fire bender because of it. Even the people from his city said Wan was using fire in ways they had never seen before, like it was an extension of his body. This is because he was bending it. Once it has been mastered from its original source it can be taught to others, but they must already possess the power of the element to be able to use it at all in the first place, let alone to bend it.
Here's a fun fact for the story told in these episodes: the creators said in an interview they wanted to put this origin story into ATLA but felt they never found a proper place for it there.
Here's one more little tidbit about this episode and about the worldbuilding of this show in general. When they say things like "10,000 years" "10,000 lifetimes" or "10,000" whatevers, 10,000 isn't meant to be taken literally but is instead to be viewed as a placeholder to mean "an uncountable many" or "an unknowable many."
i havent seen anyone mention it yet, so i will cuz i just realized it watching yalls reaction. the oasis that wan was healed in was the oasis in the north pole where katara got the water that saved aang. the bridge and the waters healing properties was the biggest detail i missed and im so mad i didnt realize it sooner.
I love these episodes this season was just created after season one and they didn't plan that far but the season has such a convoluted story that they didn't plan for
This is where the fun begins
Avatar Wan is so interesting
Ofc what anybody says the lord we got for this show made this avatar the best for me
The lore tho!
Ever since we started korra I've been waiting for the avatar Juan story
Did you guys notice that the order Wan got his bending powers is the same order as the Avatar rebirth cycle? Fire, Air, Water and Earth.
What i hated about these episodes was the spirits invaded the human world and forced the humans to live on lion turtles then get pissed when humans fight back.
Honestly Korra should have never let them come back they still want too live by their own rules not try to coexist even the humans are guilty of this its not going to work
Fun fact air bison and sky bison are related, but not the same
He was the first avatar, Mr. Krabs! He was number WAN!
It’s here!
This is my favorite 2 part of the entire Avatar Franchise :)
And it will put you in a very good perspective for the end of the season and the beginning of season 3.
Enjoy the show guys , i watched all of your ATLA episode so im a hardcore fan of both show.
Continue the good work guy and that go for the editing department too.
I love it when reactors are shocked about other lion turtles… i mean think about it…. Did yall think that one day…. a singular lion turtle just… popped into existence from nothingness to go help Aang? XD
People dislike these episodes because they had certain expectations of how the world of Avatar works, and writing wise these expectations and theories are often more powerful than whatever story they could tell. The difference is that you guys are just going with the flow, vibing and enjoying what you're watching, rather than sitting there with the expactations of more than 10 years of being a fan. It's definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be! The only thing I'll "fault" Legend of Korra for is that it had to follow up on the masterpiece that is Aangs story, but it is good in its own right! But being an 8/10 sequel is still seen as a downgrade if the original was a 9/10..
Best episodes of season 2 by far, Cant wait for the first episode of season 3.
I love this fan theory I read once that the old woman is a rehabbed Azula.
I can't wait to see how they react to Iroh's return
I love that Raava is Sharon from South Park lol.
Looks like the avatars has the legacy of being stubborn, goofy and doing illegal things😂 (Wan stole the firebending, Aang used to do some scam with the gang and Korra threatened lots of people *that judge deserved it though*)
The story is beautiful.
But establishing the literal god and devil spits in the face of the yin yang
It is a fundamental misunderstanding and it hurts the series as a whole