Title: The Legend of Korra.
Season: 2.
Rated: TV-Y7-FV.
Number of episodes: 14.
Release Date: 2013.
ORIGINAL NETWORK: Nickelodeon.
Genre(s): Animation, Action, Adventure.
Created by: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko.
Composer(s): Jeremy Zuckerman & Benjamin Wynn.
Cast: Zach Tyler Eisen, Dee Bradley Baker, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena, Dante Basco, Michaela Jill Murphy, Mako, and many more!
My Overall Rating:
Previously in The Legend of Korra TV series:
Season 1.
As an Avatar, an individual that can bend all four elements and who is coined as the antithesis of chaos, an entity responsible for establishing peace in the world, the burden of responsibility lies upon their shoulder to assure the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. For the young Korra, having only just unlocked her ability to bend her fourth and final element, air, and to connect with the wondrous Spirit World, it is forthwith a task beyond her understanding to serve as the ultimate link between humans and spirits. When push comes to shove, it is in the midst of adversity, under trying predicaments, that Avatar Korra needs to make difficult decisions, whether the world is with her or not. Continuing their endeavour into developing the Avatar world, creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko present the second season of The Legend of Korra, split into fourteen episodes, titled Book Two: Spirits.
What is The Legend of Korra (2012) Season 2 about? Six months after the difficult battle against Amon and the Equalists, Avatar Korra can now enter the Avatar State and explore the Spirit World. Convinced in her ability to masterfully bend all four elements, rushing ahead to find new ways to become the best version of herself, a terrifying situation during a winter solstice event at the Southern Water Tribe leaves plenty perplexed at the state of the world as dark spirits mysteriously appear and wreak havoc. Having witnessed Unalaq, Korra’s uncle, utilize unique spiritual waterbending techniques to soothe these dark spirits, Korra wishes to become his apprentice to further sharpen her own Avatar skills. What follows is a tale of division that forces Korra’s hands into doing what’s right. Much of the material and spirit worlds’ fate is up to her now.
As commonly seen in the Avatar universe, political conflicts are key driving forces in the ongoing character growth observed in the protagonist. This time around, the civil war, between Northern and Southern Water Tribes, makes for an interesting background clash that puts Korra between a rock and a hard place. Add family into the equation and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster, especially with Korra’s tendency to be very much hot-headed and prone to dramatic decision-making. However, the antagonist is not much of a surprise in this season, and the floppy attempts to prove viewers otherwise were not only unconvincing but counterproductive in developing a sense of urgency in the characters’ plight. Fortunately, the heart of the conflict remains theoretically intriguing and ultimately leads up to some thrilling moments that allow Korra to reflect on her role as the link between the material and the spiritual world. In fact, the best episodes of the season lie in a two-episode origin story titled Beginnings with unique visual artwork and story-telling that invites viewers on a journey to discover the first Avatar’s roots and the debate between good and evil.
Side characters also get entertaining subplots to further their own personal growth. From Mako working as a policeman and trying to prove to himself and the force that he’s dedicated to his work, to the truth, and justice, to Bolin making a comedic yet empowering detour into the performance industry as a movie star serving propagandist objectives, their journey pushes them further into understanding who they are and what they want to achieve. A balanced exploration of each of their adventures throughout the season also allows viewers to disconnect and put some distance from some of the more frustrating elements, especially in regard to Korra’s temper and decisions. Unfortunately, romance continues to be a very distracting and cringe-worthy component of the series. Not only does Bolin find himself stuck in a domination-submission relationship with a girl who always goes around with her twin brother (sure, it is funny at times) but a redundant and uninteresting love triangle with Korra, Mako, and Asami is brought back unnecessarily (nope, this is never funny).
Despite the creators encountering issues with the animation studios who worked on this second season, the series continues to deliver some of the most visually-captivating animation sequences, especially with its action sequences, where one could only qualify it as poetry in motion. The two-episode origin story Beginnings is also accomplished with an unparalleled and gorgeous artistic vision that merits its own standing ovation. While the story might not necessarily be completely revolutionary, it does lead up to a dramatic and impressive finale that inevitably has important consequences on the material and spiritual world for the following season. With the animation and score bringing it all to life and watching these characters further develop their understanding and perception of the world, Kora, although her personality makes it difficult to unequivocally adore, and her gang are still lively and intriguing in their own way this time around.
The Legend of Korra (2013) Season 2 is a solid and engaging story arc focused on establishing the fundamental link between the material and spiritual world through a good versus evil dichotomy.
All episodes are available on select streaming services!
Have you read any comic book stories from this franchise?
Have you seen The Legend of Korra (2012-2014)? Will you?
Share your thoughts with me!
Roars and Echoes 
While your reviews of Avatar intrigued me, everything you’ve said about this sequel series has definitely given me pause. and seeing that picture of the motorycle made me realize this was not just fantasy. At what technological stage was Avatar taking place in?
For the most part I am not a fan of mixing tech and magic. Sometimes it can work, and work really well, but most of the time it ends up annoying me rather than intriguing me.
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I’ll always vouch for the original Avatar’s series. Korra feels more like an extension for fans. It’ll appeal to youngsters no matter what but it has its flaws. The reason why there’s all the technological stuff is that it takes place 70 years after Avatar The Last Airbender and because some benders learned to bend metal and lightning, society evolved and created technological/mechanical stuff (similar to the Industrial Era). It’s a bit of an inevitable “creative” progression to the world.
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I was just reading Mogsy’s review of The Last Metal, the finale to the 2nd Mistborn series by Sanderson, and it had me realizing that I see the first and second series as completely different. Yes there are ties between them, but they just don’t feel remotely similar to me. And that has me wondering how you feel about the original Avatar series and Korra. Do they feel similar or do they feel completely different?
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Yep, they’re connected in many ways, especially with past characters making an appearance or their children being thrown into the mix in Korra’s world, but I’ll always conceive TLoK as an extension of ATLA. Fans of ATLA will have fun with TLoK but I’d have a hard time being convinced by anyone that TLoK is better or anything hahah It simply expands on the lore and offers more of what ATLA gave us in the first place. I just think it doesn’t have the same charm.
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I am just laughing seeing that romance is distracting and cringe worthy Lashaan ;-)))
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Love triangles are just not my thing, Sophie! 😛
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Great review, Lashaan! This reminds that I still need to finish The Last Airbender before starting The Legend of Korra, but also that I really liked this whole universe! I feel like a lot of protagonists of fiction are usually “hot headed and prone to dramatic decision making” ahah, maybe that’s the key for being a main character in life as well 😛
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Thanks, Juliette! Hope you get around to finishing up ATLA! It’s such a wonderful self-contained tale. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on it and how it compares to TLoK if you ever decide to continue with the show! 😀 And you’re right, they’re often like that but, man… I’m telling you, Korra is worse hahaha
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The love triangle is the weakest part of this particular season, and there are times when Korra is a bit unlikeable, but in the long run, I think that’s part of the point. At some point between writing the first and second season, the creators realized that the Korra/Mako relationship just doesn’t work.
The character growth in this season on the other hand is very strong all-round, and once you get to the detective episode, this season is much stronger as a whole.
Looking forward to your reaction to Season 3, and who is quite possibly the most fascinating villain of the entire franchise … so far.
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Yep, I think Korra’s personality is indeed something that you can actually notice evolving across the seasons but, on a personal level, it’s hard to love her from the get-go. I find myself praying that some of the OG characters appear so I could have someone to root for.
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It’ll be easier to enjoy her character once you know where she ends up. She matures a lot in the last two seasons.
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I agree that the romance is cringey in this. I also find this season hard to work past. The first time I watched the Korea series, I gave up after this one, and recently on my rewatch, I stopped here as well. It just isn’t appealing to me, but I think it gets better after this.
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I can totally understand. Having already seen seasons 3 and 4, I can confirm that season 3 is the best of the series and its villain really makes it all worthwhile.
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