holidaypageant:
So what you’re saying is, there’s a team of evil X-Men benders who’ve all been in solitary confinement for who-knows-how-long, and that they’ve decided now would be a good time to get their revenge on whatever?
I’m in.
This group is reportedly called the Red Lotus. They should have called it the Blood-Orange Lotus. In fact, I think I’ll just call them that, in honor of their leader’s penchant for flowery language.
(And also, irrelevant point: I saw that clip on TV long before it became a Tumblr meme. So there. Now my hipster quota has been filled. By Project Runway, of all things.)
Administrative Note: I have until recently been on vacation with limited Internet access, hence the delay in posting. Now you know.
*Screenshots and Edits by Me (Edits via Imgflip.com)*
Since the original title of this episode was Rebirth of a Nation, I’m guessing the producers were like, oh crap, unfortunate implications, well uh, this is awkward, and they shortened it to Rebirth. So that’s our lead-in.
Last episode, the Krew discovered that new airbenders are randomly showing up everywhere thanks to Harmonic Convergence and the power of plot device. Asami provides the awesome Future Industries airship to travel in.
(I had to.)
Kya and Pema, meanwhile, have decided to stay behind to take care of the kids and, in Kya’s words, “hold down the fort.”
But, of course, we have to indulge the obligatory baby vomit joke.
Pema: “Aw! He likes you!”
Kya just waterbends that crap away.
Pema’s grateful she no longer has to be a one-woman airbender factory. As well she should be. I mean, she doesn’t say anything, but you can sense the relief all over.
Before Korra and the others board the airship, His Royal Awkwardness the Prince of Angst shows up and gives Korra a map of all the airbenders that have been located so far.
He goes: “Once I received your message I proceeded to contact various locations within the Earth Kingdom as ordered by you, the Avatar.”
Korra sarcastically retorts that “the Avatar thanks [him] for [his] service.” Then she tells Mako that he should tag along on the trip, since he’s still part of Team Avatar despite the break-up. Mako insists that it would be better if he “sit this one out.”
I’m guessing this will be the season where Mako learns to get in touch with his feelings.
Tenzin tells Pema that once they get more airbenders, they’ll all meet at the Northern Air Temple. Ikki and Meelo, on the other hand, are all pissed off that they can’t come on the trip, but Jinora can.
Kya and Tenzin explain to them that they’ll get to be instructors for the new airbenders who show up in Republic City, which gets the kids all excited. Meelo: “Those maggots will bow to me!” Tenzin tells his son to go easy.
Then Bolin and Mako have a scene where Bolin tries to get Mako to come on their quest. Mako insists that he has a life and a job here in the City. Bolin: “A life? You sleep under your desk. And what’s more important than helping the Avatar rebuild an entire civilization?”
Mako angsts that he’s been “drifting apart” from everyone. Yeah, even though everyone else has insisted that there’s no bad blood and you’re welcome to be friends again.
Bolin remarks that they’ll be going to Ba Sing Se, their father’s hometown. Ah yes, Ba Sing Se, the city of scary robot ladies named Joo Dee, secret police, and thinly veiled references to Chinese emperors. This’ll be fun.
He demonstrates a hypothetical situation in which he meets their long-lost grandmother by doing a totally hammed-up imitation of an old woman who will cry “those grandma tears” and literally die if Mako does not come along.
Mako finally relents.
A few seconds later, the team lifts off.
There’s an inexplicable shot of Naga and the sky bison hanging out on the deck with their tongues sticking out and flopping to one side. The sky bison catches up to Naga and just imitates what she’s doing.
Inside the ship, Mako goes over the battle plan. He explains that they can get to all the cities marked with an X before heading to Ba Sing Se.
Because once you get Madagascar, you can take East Africa, and from there it’s just a matter of going up through Asia to Kamchatka so you can just steamroll down the Americas.
Wait.
Korra: “We’re going to bring the Air Nation back from the brink of extinction after nearly two hundred years.” Yes, we know. You’ve told us about as many times.
Tenzin: “And it’s all because of you, Korra.”
Something’s telling me that the citizens of the modern world won’t be too excited about that prospect.
But before we meet any new airbenders, we cut to yet another creepy-ass prison cell in the middle of nowhere. The next new guy villain, Ghazan, has apparently spent his time in prison doing pull-ups and generally maintaining his incredibly ripped physique.
He’s so sexy it HURTS.
In short, Zaheer shows up under the guise of a White Lotus guard and beats up the actual guards with his unexplained master airbending powers.
He throws some stones at the too-sexy-for-his-shirt guy, who promptly turns them into a FREAKIN LAVA DISC.
Once the White Lotus guys are defeated and Ghazan escapes his cell, they greet each other with a firm handshake, and Ghazan asks Zaheer where he “picked up the new skills.”
Zaheer: “I have Harmonic Convergence to thank for that. I have been given a gift. I believe it is a sign that our path is a righteous one.”
That’s nice. NOW MAKE OUT WITH EACH OTHER.
Team Avatar arrives at a small village, where they are greeted by the mayor, or a village elder of some sort.
They go to the new airbender’s place for dinner and a chat. Tenzin tells the dude that it’s an honor to meet a fellow airbender. Dude: “Oh, I still think of myself as a simple farmer. Who can airbend!”
A simple farm, a wife and three kids. He’s your average Joe.
He accidentally throws a pie right in Bolin’s face, then apologizes, stating he still doesn’t have his ability under control.
Bolin says it’s okay. He likes pie, and so does Pabu.
And Tenzin gets down to business. He tells the guy that he’s going to help rebuild the Air Nation. But the guy would rather not give up his entire life and his family to become a monk and learn the ways of the Air Nomads.
I C U, show.
Tenzin reminds the guy in more forceful terms that this is in fact srs bsns.
Basically, no one is able to convince the guy to come with them, and he goes:
On the airship, they all regroup and contemplate whether they should have tried harder, or kidnapped him by putting him in a potato sack. Bumi: “That’s how they got me to join the United Forces!” Tenzin decides that they shouldn’t coerce anyone, and that there will be plenty of people to convince to come freely and willingly.
What follows is a montage of Tenzin going door-to-door, visiting the locations Mako circled on the map:
(Chibis make everything better, obvi.)
Tenzin takes the straight-up evangelism route, and all but recites verses from the Book of Air Nomad in order to convert the people to Airbender…ism.
But as you can imagine, that doesn’t go over well. Everyone slams the door in his face.
You monsters!
Tenzin grumbles that he thought he had that last guy. “Who doesn’t want a bison as their best friend?”
Bumi: “It’s okay, Tenzin. I still want to be an airbender.”
Korra decides that Tenzin’s method isn’t working, and that it’s time for some “tough love.”
The new airbender they test Korra’s method on is Napoleon Dynamite. Well, he’s voiced by Napoleon Dynamite. And he’s named/designed after the Season 1 director and producer of the series proper, for some reason.
Korra, Mako and Bolin greet Ryu’s mother and tell her all about how they’d like him to come to the Northern Air Temple to train with Tenzin and everyone else.
Or maybe do a little dance?
Unfortunately, he does neither of those things. Ryu is your stereotypical aimless twenty-two-year-old who lives in his mom’s basement. He probably plays Starcraft and WoW and chats with babes in online forums, only emerging to grab Hot Pockets from the microwave upstairs. That’s the level we’re talking here.
His mom yells at him to come up, and he does. Korra repeats her request. Ryu’s response in summary:
Then Korra makes this face:
She yells at him, and explains that he’s GOT to do this thing. Ryu: “I didn’t ask to be an airbender.” Korra didn’t ask to be the Avatar, but the world would be thrown into chaos if she didn’t embrace her role. “Is that what you want?”
Ryu: “Maybe.”
Heh, it’s funny because it’s relevant.
The short of it is that Ryu couldn’t give less of a crap, and Korra becomes increasingly more frustrated, finally dragging him off his ass and out the door. Ryu’s mom is like:
But he airbends away and crashes on the floor.
Mako and Bolin have to drag Korra, literally kicking and screaming, back to the airship.
Next up is the third evil X-Men bender, an arm-less waterbender named Ming Hua.
The dudes break her out, she waterbends herself some appendages, and the three of them toss White Lotus guys into the lava pit. CHILDREN’S - eh, you know.
Ming Hua: “I never thought I’d be happy to see your ugly mugs again.”
I like how Ghazan and Ming Hua have the exact same hairstyle.
Ming Hua tells Zaheer that she is flattered they got to her before “that girlfriend of [his]. You know, I kind of assumed she was joking, like she was teasing an old buddy about some unresolved past sexual tension between him and a female friend, but then Zaheer says: “We’re getting her next,” as if it’s just an accepted fact that he really has a girlfriend. Go figure.
Back on Team Avatar’s airship, everyone is at their wit’s end. Tenzin suggests they just go to Ba Sing Se, and Korra admits that she thought more people would be excited to go on this adventure. Bumi, the ideas guy, suggests that they should use more excitement, more “razzle-dazzle.”
Bolin has a better suggestion: performance art!
Korra: “It sounds ridiculous, but it might work.”
Tenzin: “I’m willing to try anything at this point.”
And we cut to the landed airship, where Bolin announces to a crowd the arrival of The Amazing Airbenders, who will leave the audience breathless…with wind! He even sports a ringleader ‘stache.
Bolin introduces the first up, “the tattooed master himself…the son of Avatar Aang…Tenzin!” Then Tenzin demonstrates his skillz. And he takes off his shirt. No reason, he just does.
Damn, son, nice pecs.
Next up, Bolin fake-warns the crowd that there’s an escaped firebender convict with a red scarf, played by Mako. But where Bolin’s acting method is go big or go home, Mako’s is more stony-faced and greatly lacking anything resembling enthusiasm.
And Korra “saves the day” by trapping Mako in a mini-tornado. As you do.
The show ends with demonstrations from sky bison, Bumi, and Jinora, the latter flying over on a glider.
Bolin concludes the show by saying: “If you or anyone you know is an airbender, please, send them our way! Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra would love to teach them all they know!”
And the crowd disperses. Womp womp.
Except one kid, who shows up like:
He demonstrates his airbending skills and the Krew gets excited that they’ve found their first recruit.
The kid introduces himself as Kai and asks when they’ll be ready to hit the road. When Tenzin asks where his parents are, Kai reveals that he does not have any. Then he proceeds to tell his tragic backstory. His village was raided by outlaws, and his parents died protecting him and the entire village. “Mom and pop were everything to me, they were my whole life. Ever since then, I’ve been on the run. Those same outlaws are still after me.”
Bolin is moved to tears.
Yeah, I don’t buy this story for one minute.
Tenzin, Korra and Bolin promise Kai that they will keep him safe, and that they are here for him. Bolin tells Kai to think of him as his big brother. Notably, he keeps his fake mustache on THE ENTIRE TIME. I think he just really wants a mustache.
Once on board the airship, Mako notices a motorcycle-riding gang out of the window, and everyone rushes out to investigate.
Korra and the bike-riding guys have a bending battle, and she proclaims that their days of harassing an innocent boy are over, and that they’re going to prison.
Leader: “Outlaws? Innocent boy? I’m the sheriff, and these are my deputies. This kid is a thief. Whatever he told you is a lie, we’ve been chasing him for months.” WELL I NEVER.
When Korra asks where Kai went, Mako walks up dragging the kid by the shirt collar. In Mako’s other hand is a sack of stolen gold.
Mako surrenders Kai to the police, whereupon the sheriff tells the truth about him: HE’S the outlaw. After spending his entire life in the orphanage, he was adopted by a family and promptly stole their entire life savings. Korra: “Is that true?”
Kai: “The person who stole that stuff was the old me. Once I got airbending, I changed. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like airbending choose me for a reason.”
Once the police threaten to send him to jail, Korra reasons that since the innocent family’s life savings have been returned, Team Avatar should take the kid and teach him about the true meaning of friendship, or something along those lines. Tenzin isn’t sure about the first new airbender being a liar and a thief. Korra insists that the kid just needs some guidance, and who better to give it to him than them?
Group hug!
Tenzin’s like, get off me, asshole.
Before they board the ship to finally get out of here, Mako pulls Kai aside and tells him:
Kai insists that he’s “turning a new leaf, making a change.” Eh, okay.
And Jinora’s got a CRUSH. She promises to show Kai what she knows if he needs any help with airbending.
You just know this kid’s gonna be SUPER hot when he gets older. That I can guarantee.
Kai thanks her cheerfully and they get on the ship.
Cut to: Ming Hua’s prison, where the White Lotus are all, we done fcked up. And who’s there assessing the damage but ZUKO.
The king of all redemption arcs has arrived to school us all, while bearing a very striking resemblance to great-grandfather Avatar Roku. No surprises there.
At first I couldn’t really hear what he was talking about over all the
And then there was a
And the AtLA fandom all squee’d in unison. I could hear the fangirls (and fanboys) from miles around.
Zuko warns that individually, these evil benders could take down anyone, but together they could destroy the world. He tells the White Lotus guy to warn the chiefs of the Northern Tribe that their top-secret prison needs to up the security. CHIEFS? Does that mean what I think it means? (SPOILER: Yes it does. The Wonder Twins are BACK.)
Finally, Zuko declares: “The Avatar must be protected!”
Heh, would the Zuko from AtLA Season 1 have ever dreamed he’d make that declaration? (That’s a rhetorical question. We all know the answer is no.)
Now Zuko’s off to stop this rag-tag team of evil X-Men benders on his awesome dragon. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL.
Next episode will be up sooner than this one. As for the recent network drama, well, there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said, except that it’s a shame that Viacom doesn’t seem to know how to competently handle this show. It’s not going to change my project, or anything. ‘Til next time.
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