The Legend of Korra 3×4; 3×5 Review: ‘In Harm’s Way’ and ‘The Metal Clan’
Nickelodeon has started releasing two back-to-back episodes of The Legend of Korra Book 3 every week. I would like to binge watch the entire season because it’s that awesome! The current two episodes told a little more about the criminals out to get the Avatar, and introduced a new city.
The post contains minor spoilers regarding the episodes.
When Book 1 started, I always wondered why Korra was kept in seclusion from the rest of the world at the South Pole. At first I thought it was because of Amon, the antagonist of the first series, but that didn’t make much sense. The fourth episode of the series “In Harm’s Way” revealed more about Korra’s backstory, and why she was raised away from the rest of the world. The whole backstory about Zaheer and his group wanting to hurt the Avatar really made me rethink about what I knew about Korra’s life from the first book. I’m looking forward to knowing why Zaheer wants the Avatar.
There was a lot of political talk in the fourth episode, and the whole city of Ba Sing Se is a good example of showing how corrupted rulers can make lives of people miserable. The Earth Queen is power hungry, and has been kidnapping new airbenders for her personal army. The Avatar is a beacon of balance and hope, and watching Korra standing against the Queen and freeing the airbenders just felt right. In comparison, the new city Zao Fu, shown in the fifth episode “The Metal Clan”, looked beautiful. It provided everyone with the opportunity to be the best they can be, and everything looked quite peaceful. I hope the book continues to talk about the political situation in Ba Sing Se and finally bring in a change that’s similar to Zao Fu. Kudos to the artists for creating a city that looked beautiful even though it was made entirely of metal.
There were a lot of new characters introduced in the fifth issue. The most important was Suyin Beifong, the second daughter of Toph, and Lin’s half-sister. Suyin’s family included four sons, and a daughter named Opal who just discovered her airbending skills. I don’t think the rest of Suyin’s family, except Opal, will be playing a major role in the story. In a sense the new airbender resembled Korra in a lot of ways. Just like the Avatar she grew up inside a single place. I think it’s clear that she wants to go on an adventure, based on the way she showed interest in Bolin’s stories. There’s a lot of tension between Lin and Suyin, and it feels the book will continue exploring the relationship between the two sisters. A familiar character, Varric, also came back to the series. I enjoyed his character in Book 2, and I’m looking forward to what he gets up to this season.
Coming to Team Avatar, I’m enjoying the way the writers are showing the growing friendship between Asami and Korra. I just wish we had seen this awesomeness right from the first book rather than the love triangle involving Mako. Jinora also played an important role in saving the captured airbenders. I don’t know how she developed her high-level spiritual skills. Toph discovered metal bending because she could sense the earth components in metal. Maybe Jinora got her spiritual powers because she’s related to Avatar Aang, her grandfather? I would like an explanation.
Is it bad that I’m falling in love with the new antagonists? I know they are villains, but the way the characters have been written is impressive. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding them, and the female characters are epic. P’Li and Ming-Hu haven’t been on screen for more than five minutes and I wouldn’t mind a whole episode just about them. The current book needs to give an episode that tells about where these villains came from, their motives, and why they have special bending skills. Though Team Avatar has done a lot since the past two books, I still think the original Team Avatar was stronger than them. Sokka, Toph, Katara, Aang, and Zuko were younger than the current Team and still performed impressive feats. I really want a scene that makes Team Korra rise to the level, if not better, of Team Aang. I can imagine Team Aang going against the new villains and winning, but I’m not so sure about Team Korra being victorious in such a fight.
Best Bending Award: Again, the villains performed some of the most impressive bending moves. Though Kya, Desna, and Eska came close to winning, I have to give the award to Zaheer for his amazing skills as a new airbender. The good guys really have to bring it if they want to win.
What did you think of the new episodes of The Legend of Korra Book 3? Are you liking the new villains? Let us know in the comments!
Author: Farid-ul-Haq
Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.
Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.
Copyright © The Geekiary
Do not copy our content in whole to other websites. If you are reading this anywhere besides TheGeekiary.com, it has been stolen.Read our
My theory with the bad guys is based on the fact we know they tried to kidnap Korra when she was very young. I think they were hoping to raise Avatar themselves because they wanted her to be in their control for some nefarious reason (not sure what? Take over the world?). When you think about it, it might explain why Zaheer knows so much about airbending, and why he said he thought it was a sign their cause as righteous when he got it. If they were going to kidnap toddler Korra and raise her, they would need to train her, and who better to train her than four people who are experts in the elements? Of course, Zaheer wasn’t able to airbend then, but he obviously studied the subject well enough so he would be able to give the avatar some decent instructions in it.
Of course, Korra’s an adult now, which will make brainwashing her and converting her to their cause considerably harder to do as we know Korra is particularly stubborn and strong-willed. However, I suspect at some point they will succeed at kidnapping her and try to do just that and if they fail, then they’ll kill her and try to find the next avatar baby, but it would make sense for them to at least attempt it with Korra first.
I’m still at a loss as to what they wanted to do with the Avatar though. I really do agree that the bad guys this season and them to be very intriguing characters (a big improvement over Unalaq in season 2 who I thought was rather one dimensional). I look forward to learning more about their background. If they do manage to brainwash Korra, I fully expect we’ll get a climatic scene where Tenzen, Asami, Mako, or Bolin manage to break through to her.
I’m REALLY looking forward to finding out what happened between Lin and her sister to cause such strife. I was also excited that they indicated Toph is still alive. I hope we get to see her again at some point as she was one of my favorites from the first series.
your theory does make sense. It was revealed that Zaheer and his group tried to kidnap Korra after it was revealed that she was the Avatar…so maybe they do want to control her?…i just have this feeling that this group might have something to do with Aang’s death as well
knowing Toph, she must be living with the giant badger moles underground…she didn’t come during the anti-bender strike, nor during the Harmonic Convergence battle…let’s see what makes her reappear…she’s one of my fav’s from the first series too 🙂