The Legend of Korra: The Aftermath   Rewatch 
February 1, 2016 1:17 PM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe

Tensions mount when Korra begins to suspect an ally is working for the Equalists.

This episode brings in the following:
  • Tarrlok does the introduction, not Shiro Shinobi. This is disappointing.
  • Tarrlok also hates Lin and demands new leadership.
  • The Probending Arena is being shut down.
  • Mako and Bolin are moving in Asami's mansion. Or, as Asami calls it, "the estate".
  • Cabbage Corps is creating Equalist supplies...or is it?
  • Yes, Cabbage Corps is related to the Cabbage Seller. The giant statue in front of the building gives it away. And Lau Gan-Lan is the CEO of Cabbage Corps.
  • "NOT MY CABBAGE CORPS!"
  • The best healers in the city can't fix Amon's bending removal.
  • The Sato estate has a test track. Asami drives racecars like a boss.
  • Korra does not understand makeup.
  • Agni Kai broke into the Sato mansion and killed Mrs. Sato 12 years ago. So if Hiroshi's a little bitter about benders, it might seem justified.
  • Except him being involved with the Equalists is a bit much.
  • One of the giant bridges across the bay is called Silk Road Bridge.
  • Unsurprisingly, having an estate as big as the Sato Estate means they can have a SECRET EQUALIST FACTORY underneath it.
  • Lin can do a sonic sense on earth and find tunnels underneath. Much like how Toph was able to "see". She also has bitchin' retractable soles on her boots in order to do this.
  • Sato's SECRET EQUALIST FACTORY has mecha suits. MECHA. SUITS.
  • Mako and Bolin have a trick where they sneeze and trip people. They might have used this for petty crimes when they were younger.
  • Metalbenders can't bend solid platinum. Not even Toph Beifong could do it because it's "too pure".
  • Lin can, however, metal bend knives from her suit.
  • Asami figures out how to work an Equalist glove pretty damn quickly, it must be said.
  • Lin's team was captured by the Equalists.
  • Lin is going to resign from the police force and go OUTSIDE THE LAW to get them back.
posted by Katemonkey (9 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sorry, sorry, I didn't have Internet all weekend. It was terrible.

First, the shallow:

Oh my god, Asami's house with the giant pool and the boys in their swimsuits and then Asami in her swimsuit and then her racing gear and did it just get warmer in here or something?

"You can't be afraid to mix it up sometimes." Oh really, Asami? Oh really?

And Lin saying she's going to go "outside the law"? Helloooooo.

Okay, the deeper:

Yeah, there was no way Hiroshi wasn't going to be evil, because, c'mon. The perfect disguise, the industrialist with secret hatreds. But the slow build, the big reveal, and the sheer delight of a fight scene involving freakin' mechas and metalbenders and airbending. This is fantastic.

And Asami's face! Her broken heart when everything she believes in, everything she thought she knew about her father, it's all wrong, and I know they were going to go the route of Asami being a secret Equalist, and I'm really glad they didn't, because it's so much better to have her like this, a girl who has her entire world turned upside down.

Ugh, just give me people discovering that their parents aren't the heroes they're made out of be and mix it up with giant fights, and I'm a happy delighted mess.

Although I do wonder about one thing. So metalbenders can't bend very pure metal. That makes sense, because Toph always says that she bends the earth within the metal, not the metal itself. But then does that mean that if, I don't know, someone gets some pure gold, they can't bend that either? Why does only platinum cause problems?
posted by Katemonkey at 1:19 PM on February 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm just thinking that gold wouldn't be so much of a problem, because it's a soft metal.
posted by happyroach at 2:03 PM on February 1, 2016


Yeah, she could bend it with her hands, but could she bend it with her bending ability?
posted by Katemonkey at 1:01 AM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Tarrlok's voiceover narration made me even more suspicious about his motives. Why is he so against Linn? Does she have some dirt on him?

NOT MY CABBAGE CORPS!

I love this call-back so much!


I think some of the platinum stuff is *aherm* soft science *aherm* given that a softer and more flexible metal than white gold. I think part of having a platinum mecha and wall is that it's very expensive (showing Sato's immense wealth, and his dedication to the anti-bending/Equalist cause), but it also platinum is often found chemically uncombined (at least in this world), which means there would be less "earth" in it to bend.

Lin: My metalbenders are on their way to Amon, and it's all my fault. Tarrlok's right, I've failed as chief. First thing in the morning, I'm handing in my resignation.
Tenzin: No! You can't give up like this!
Lin: I'm not giving up. I'm gonna find my officers and take Amon down. But I'm gonna do it my way, outside the law.
Tenzin: Stop, don't, come back. Don't become an even more bad-ass vigilante to stop this man who operates outside the law. Don't.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:21 AM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


In my headcanon, its traditional for Lin to hand in her badge in order to crack a tough case. Except now she's chief, and she has nobody to hand her badge to.

(The fact that she'd be handing her badge in to her mother just makes my headcanon better)
posted by happyroach at 9:20 AM on February 2, 2016


Also, people love cop shows, so 20 years down the line, one of the early "Talkers" will be about how one tough police chief brought down the Equalists...conveniently minimizing the involvement of a still-controversial Avatar.
posted by happyroach at 9:29 AM on February 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Part of me thinks the Sato plot could have used another episode or two to percolate, paced ATLA-style, so that Asami's dilemma would have more emotional weight to it; the other part thinks it worked really well done in one episode because not knowing Asami that well makes it seem that much more plausible that she'll pull a Zuko and stick with her father. Regardless, Seychelle Gabriel and the animation team really stepped it up for that scene and it was so satisfying.

Loved Lin's seismic sensing, and our first look at airbender fighting with Korra-level animation. The air scooter is now an air... monowheel? Whatever, it looks awesome. Meanwhile I'm not sure how I feel about the mecha in the long term because a) much steampunk, very cliche b) fewer person-to-person bending battles, which aside from the obvious season 4 exception are more fun to watch. But for this battle they are nice and menacing.

The platinum thing is blatantly rule-of-cool, but, y'know... it's cool, so eh. Are there naturally occurring chemically uncombined metals which are tough enough for this kind of application? (Honest question.)

The cabbage callback was great. I wonder how much it confused all the new-to-Avatar viewers?
posted by bettafish at 12:27 PM on February 2, 2016


Oh, I meant to add -- I love that Lin takes Korra's theory seriously, instead of writing it off as high-spirited teenage paranoia.
posted by bettafish at 12:28 PM on February 2, 2016


I also highly appreciated the adult air bending fighting that Tenzin did. Very cool and very un-Aang.

I was hoping the butler attending to Bolin was an Equalist. Nobody deserves to be treated that way.

The metal bending brigade disappoints me, because Toph made it so cool and strong and bad-ass and rare, and here it is as a common everyday police brigade. Getting beat up. :( Lin's armor knives were awesome, though.

Fluffy fire ferret is the cutest fire ferret. And those muscular pit bull crows (???) were surprising.
posted by jillithd at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2016


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