Republic City Dispatch

I JUST got it. Like, today. Not for lack of trying, but it seems like everyone wanted it and it wasn’t on the Dark Horse digital app.

Full discussion of The Promise is one of the things we’re debating about bringing y’all during the off season.

Of course, a lot of that depends on how long the off-season is.

Until then, I’ll certainly be bringing it up if it’s relevant (Part II confirms that Aang’s air scooter was his invention that counted toward his tattoos and goes into the connection of metal bending to emotions), but I’m not sure if there will be anything Promise-centric in discussion of the last 3 episodes.

-Da7e-

Possibly. I don’t know what we’d gain from that reveal. They were in the same room fighting each other, you think they’d recognize one another at some point.

So we’re all just assuming Amon’s fire bender story is false now?

-Da7e-

Thanks for the support!

The closer we get to the end of the season, the less likely a character death looks. But – dang! – so many people are getting their bending taken away. At some point while discussing this earlier I had mentioned that the removal of bending is being treated like death in this series.

That being said, I wonder if Mako/Bolin getting stripped is powerful enough or if they’re willing to go for the gut-punch and take away Korra’s bending.

If the Avatar can’t bend, they’re still technically The Avatar, right? Since it all has to do with re-incaration?

-Da7e-

I’m still with my friend Julian on Asami overall.

: )

I’m sure we’ll get to this on next week’s podcast, when we are supposed to. : )

-Da7e-

Yes.

-Da7e-

I like this theory, but I fear it because it smacks of Midichlorians (Star Wars). There’s water in blood, so I get it, but let’s not name a new thing that gives us bending that’s also in the blood. So I can’t disprove you, but I’m not sure that is where this is all going.

-Da7e-

I’m sorry I missed that. That’s my thought. It sounds relevant, but it also sounds like a brillant art directing choice from a lighting angle, so it might not be plot centric. But it could be.

The closer we get to the end, the less certain I feel about a bunch of my feelings about where these answers will come from.

-Da7e-

I think you are not far off from what we’l see, realisitically.

Although me, Da7e, also thinks that it would be interesting to end the season with Korra bend-less. If the next book really is “Spirit” like we’ve been theorizing, I wouldn’t mind Korra to have to go on a spirit-world-hopping journey to re-claim her bending and title as the Avatar.

But that’s a lot of theory that I have nothing to base that on. It think it’s more likely we get what you’re talking about. 

I don’t know when they told the Korra team there would be a second season and I don’t know how that extension changed the ending of what was to be the original mini-series. For instance, if the ending didn’t change with the annoucement, there’s no way that my theory is happening. If they realized they’d have a whole ‘nother Book to discuss some stuff they thought up here, the Spirit World could be fully relegated to next Book and we’ll get an Empire Strikes Back ending here.

I want your version.

-Da7e-

Whew!

Yay Asami!

But I’m still iffy on watching that teaser too many times. There’s a whole ‘nother episode between here and there.

Hopefully it’s not 24 minutes about making a giant Amon mask to put on the Aang statue. It must take a long time to make those things without any Earth Bending.

-Da7e-

Correct. Book One: Air is 12 total episodes.

Episodes 1&2 were aired at the same time and episodes 11&12 will be aired on the 23rd as a one-hour block. 

Episode 10 happens this Saturday.

-Da7e-

Korra and Mako by FlyingRabbitMonkey

Awww, but I did it both ways just to piss you off this time! : )

-Da7e- 

By Chloe C.

We agree there was some oversight this Sunday morning when we all tried to remember things about Tahno. : )

HOWEVER – “balance” and “Equal” are similar ideas and Korra isn’t connected to the Spirit World at all like Amon keeps claiming that he is (or was, or was given power by), so if Amon is some sort of Evil Avatar, the decision he’s made that we’ve labeled “Evil” is that the best way to bring balance to the world is to make everyone the same and take away these random super-powers that have invaded the world.

You are correct that the Avatar is not about bending, especially as we’re seeing more diversified bending run rampant while no one talks about the spiritual world.

Where the Evil Avatar theory still stands in my mind is in the thought that bringing balance to the world could be getting everyone to get along (like Aang did) OR taking away everyone’s bending. They would both bring balance, just not a peaceful balance.

Then again, Kyoshi was a very aggressive Avatar, so I think the whole “Good” and “Evil” labels are fairly Aang centric. Roku and Kyoshi both saw a lot of violence in their time, even if Roku was trying to turn a blind eye to it, he could have prevented 100 years of war by killing his friend. He just didn’t.

But it would have stopped the Fire Nation before Ozai was born, and is it a failure of the Avatar to allow the world to become that unbalanced because of a personal decision?

I’m sure we’re in the “bending is good” camp, but that’s only because we’ve spent the most time with good benders. If Amon’s story is true and the Sato story is true, and the Mako/Bolin orphan story is true, I think it’s pretty reasonable to have the opinion that the world would be better without bending.

I don’t empathize, I sympathize.

-Da7e-

Yes. “Turning The Tides” is on 6/16 at 11AM.

-Da7e-

Absolutely no information as of now. 

-Da7e-