Republic City Dispatch

We could replace our Old-Timey announcer with this guy just going: WAAHAH! WAHAHAHOUOUHHOUU! WHAAAGGGNNNGNG!

-Da7e-

Greg! 

That is a big question you are asking, and I have only vague theories as to your question’s true answer. Most importantly, I feel I should say that I don’t know how Nickelodeon distributes it’s international broadcast.

However, I would assume that things like dubbing don’t contribute as much as when the series is sold and to whom. As with most delays (or like the music for A:TLA which wasn’t officially released), it has more to do with a business decision than any sort of malicious one. And Korra is currently being produced and aired in it’s country of origin, so delays to international broadcast are just expected sometimes.

Instant viewing, the posting of the episode online, iTunes and the varied methods of non-cable are actually the way international fans get to see it first, both because it’s made accessible earlier to them (you) than any broadcast and because it’s these methods that pirates can easily copy.

I don’t support pirating content from The Legend of Korra because I think they’re doing a pretty good job of getting it out there (Amazon, Greg, is great, I have an iTunes Season Pass for my re-watch that I gladly payed, what, $30 for?) 

HOWEVER – Nickelodeon still hasn’t released the third season of The Adventures of Pete and Pete on DVD because there wasn’t enough business incentive to get it done. So I’m not saying I’m above pirating Nick content, I’m saying that Korra probably ends up online somewhere you can watch it if you speak English.

If not, you’re at the whims of the business, which isn’t the best place to be, but there’s little we can do about it.

-Da7e-

Although this is a sarcastic Sokka clap, I am using it non-sarcastically. I cannot argue with your reasoning!

-Da7e-

Thanks for writing in!

All that is in Episode 1 of the podcast.

This is the last anonymous question pertaining to our qualifications and pronunciations that I will post. There’s nothing more I feel I can say to communicate to everyone that we feel bad when we do it, but try to get the podcast out the same day as the episode airs. We really want to talk about the show and if one of us slips and says Ohng over Aang, it’s because we were all working film journalists during The Last Airbender, not that we don’t know who the character is or don’t care that there IS a proper way to pronounce it.

In an e-mail below, Zoey corrects our pronunciation in a very polite way that I respond to. (Never underestimate “hahaha!”)

No hard feelings Anonymous Dude! We’re just fans of the series that know a bit about podcasting and more than a bit about how visual storytelling works. We’re NOT haters. We’re still reading all of our correspondence! 

Like these great e-mails!

The Legend of Korra (Colored) by ~mcpaustin90

Hey guys, I really enjoy listening to your podcasts! I think you butchered a name again because I’m pretty sure it’s Bei Fong is pronounced bay-fong. Haha. Anyways, there was some insight and inferences I read online about the whole Amon energy-bending and Korra not being THE Avatar situation. From what I read: the moment the Avatar dies, a new one is immediately born. So when Azula killed Aang, Amon was born. However since Katara resurrected him, Amon had lost his avatar powers. When Aang really died, Korra was born with the full fledged avatar abilities. I guess Amon kept some of his Avatar abilities. However, this insight is also confusing because the avatar cycle is supposed to end when the avatar is killed in the avatar state, which Aang did. I hope they explain this situation quickly; the series is already so enticing even though we only had 4 episodes! Can’t wait till next weeks podcast.

From: Zoey

by benderkorra

A couple of thoughts:
You keep saying “love triangle” but it seems to be a love “quadrangle” here, Bolin to Korra to Makko to Asami.
All of the characters are much more “gray” than the black and white of The Last Airbender, maybe reflecting the imperfections of the city
Following this, no one has to be inherently “good.” Makko and Bolin have done things with the Triple Threat Triad before.
Bolin seems to be inherently trying to do the right thing, but Makko has the personality to follow a suggestion of Asami even if it’s really bad.
Beifong’s character seems obvious to me; her mother had the same attitude toward the Avatar initially.
Given the flashback, it seems from the title that Avatar Korra will go into the Avatar state on the competition field next week, causing a panic, while she learns something from the past Avatar.
As for the Airbending block, Aang had the same trouble with Earthbending, and for several episodes couldn’t even try.
The Matrix-ish bullet-time type thing is a refreshing return to what was included in the first few episodes of the original series, seen then with both Aang and Zuko.
Final note of speculation: Tarloc and Amon are working together to gain control of the city, with Tarloc’s waterbenders reminiscent of the Dai Li from Ba Sing Se.

-McPizza

by geirahood

The really interesting thing I wanted to point out was Tenzin and his relationship with Aang.  In the most recent episode when Tarloc refers to Aang, Tenzin replies back with  "Do NOT bring Avatar Aang into this.“  Why didn’t he refer to him as "My father”?  Has he referred to him as his father AT ALL since the series started?  I know he called Katara “mom”, but it’s just ODD that he would refer to him as Avatar Aang, even during a counsel meeting, especially when another counselman had just referred to Aang as his father.  Katara did point out that out of her children, Tenzin was always the most serious one and I’m starting to wonder if it’s because of his relationship with Aang.  I think that maybe Aang wasn’t the fun loving, free spirit that we know of with Tenzin (but was with the other siblings) because Tenzin was going to be the Last Airbender after Aang died and Aang knew the he’d be responsible for training the next Avatar AND carrying the culture of the Airbender.  Because of that Aang and Tenzin might have had a little bit of a strained relationship and that may have fed into why he was so willing to put off training Korra and why he’s so uptight with her (not only is he literally seeing the father that was so strict with him, but now he’s also shifting the burden of responsibility to Korra the way it was shifted on him).  If so, this will make for some very interesting character interaction when his siblings show up and as Korra advances… all of that resentment has to come out at some point

-Johannes B

Hi Chibi Halo!

Yes, I – Da7e – do think that. I think I mention it out-loud on Episode 3 of the podcast, but the way Amon knocks Korra out before she flashes back looked odd to me. It’s my opinion that Amon is responsible for triggering the flashback and that he did so to accelerate Korra’s training.

I think Amon plans to defeat only a full Avatar, which Korra isn’t at the moment.

Here’s a picture of a Chibi Halo 2 ODSTs.

Thank you, Eric. I have nothing to add.

-Da7e-

You know, I had been assuming it was an arm band, but I guess we don’t really know. You’re right though, I’d love to see it light up and I’d love to learn that Southern Water Tribe has specific tattoos.

Future Tattoo’d Sokka? Just sayin: that’d be great.

Korra by ~NachInnen94

YES!

Here’s a picture of him shirtlessly looking up at your question.

Hehehe. Yes.

Well, maybe not the Quadricycles, but Sato and Ford are certainly echoes of each other. Haroshi is sort of 80% Henry Ford and 20% J.D. Rockafeller

Quadricycles do look similar to the Satomobiles:

But Ford’s Model T was his really popular model and the one that was produced on the factory line.

I think the Satomobile/Future Industries look is more based around the Model T final assembly line:

But yes! Good eye.

Between this and the history of the Triads looking similar to the Five Points New York Gang War, I am very happy with the real American history on display.

-Da7e-

Yes, Matt and I asked them this after we wrapped up recording our extended interview we did with them before the series started (check it out HERE).

Right now, there’s no official A:TLA OST (That’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Original Sound Track) and it sucks. There are a few good collections of MP3s around and torrents of packages people have made ripping music whenever they can find it, but – yeah – nothing official.

Korra had a pack of tracks that were released as part of fan-engagement with Korra Nation and Patches and I got to debut some tracks on our Operation Kino podcast in March (episode here) and that’s where Republic City Dispatch’s music comes from, but we had a very specific deal to not let those tracks get into the wild in any raw form.

I will make a deal with you guys: As we spin towards Korra’s Book One finale, I will attempt to get more official answers about this and/or we’ll try to bring The Track Team back. I feel bad illegally downloading stuff, but I have no alternative, so I’d like some answers as much as you do.

And maybe – JUST MAYBE – RCDispatch can provide some sort of rallying point for a push for release. Unless there’s a petition or something already out there?

-Da7e-

Oh it’s been seen. It’s brilliant.

Here’s what I’ve learned in the past four weeks: Nickelodeon can do no wrong because they have the show, so it totally benefits them to stir the fandom and get them all riled up (also, someone over there knows which one of those ‘ships is the one that lasts).

Over here at the Dispatch and the like, our model is “When Fans Fight Fans, No One Wins.”

‘Ship away!

We’re still dealing with a bit of Matt Patches fallout…remember in Episode 3 when he said Korra might not be the Avatar?

Hey MATT! This one’s for you from NixNox:

We know Aang was the last Airbender (titularly) and that Aang had one Airbender son, Tenzin and that Tenzin had 3 Airbender children Meelo, Ikki and Jinora, but that doesn’t mean Aang’s family is the only Airbender family.

It certainly seems that way, and I’m not going to say that anyone is wrong, but going back over the episodes that have air(bender)ed, no one says that Tenzin’s family are the only Airbenders.

I’m just happy we’ve re-populated with Sky Bison, so that means the proud tradition of Airbending will live on.

-Da7e-

I think both, actually. Wasn’t Aang the youngest air bending Master because he got his tats for the Air Scooter? But that doesn’t mean you have to invent a technique or back when there was tons of air bending there would have been dozen and dozens of techniques (although air does have a lot to begin with).

I think if you contribute something great to air bending, they’d tat you and if you’re an air bending master, you get the arrows out of respect and reverence to the sky bison.

-Da7e-

HA! Maybe?

Michael’s head is very Air Bender like to begin with, but you’re right, he does kind of have the beard. 

-Da7e-

I think it’s super plausible. 
As a matter of fact, in the season-teaser (currently available for free on iTunes) there are a few scenes of Amon and the Chi-Blockers attacking the Pro Bending arena!

Maybe mild spoilers, but of the three scenes shown of this sequence, we’re going to leave out the really spoiler image and just go with some fan art of the two Pro Bending area “action Gifs”:

I think “The Last Airbender” was a bit exaggerated. Aang was seemingly the Last Airbender, but now there is at least a few in the Tenzin family (its unclear how many more Air Nomad tribes there are, maybe it’s in the Nick.com game, I can’t remember).

Anyway! I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the Air line and we still haven’t learned the rules about birthing new benders. It seems like you can have two different bending powers in the family (Mako/Bolin) but each parent would need to be a bender (so Mako/Bolin’s parents are theoretically a fire bender and an earth bender).

Also, Meelo is really young, but maybe the hidden sadness is that Meelo represents the sole male in the third new generation of Airbenders. 

Three generations from now, when the Avatar is an Airbender again, will there only be a few hundred airbenders? Less?

I’m hoping this gets addressed in The Promise comic because it seems like that’d be a good place to mention the lost Air Bison Herd that Aang finds between Book Three and Korra. Since the Air Bison taught Airbenders bending, maybe they had started spreading they’re knowledge to more Air Nomads?

Point being, there’s so much back history in this world we’re not going to get in the remaining 8 episodes.

-Da7e-

Manifest by ~naroclie

The Blue Arrow tattoos are traditional Air Nomad tattoos. Tenzin, like Aang has them because they are Air Monks, Korra doesn’t because she’s water tribe.

Although Meelo doesn’t have his tattoos yet either, but he’s young and still mistaking things for toilets. When he masters Air Bending, he earns his tattoos. Even right out of the ice, Aang was a practiced Air Bender, hence him having the arrows at age 12.

-Da7e-

Avatar: The Last Airbender was comprised of 3 Seasons/“Books” – Water, Earth and Fire.

Book One, “Water” has 20 episodes and is available on DVD as the “The Complete Book One Collection”

Book Two, “Earth” has 20 episodes and is available on DVD as the “The Complete Book Two Collection”

Book Three, “Fire” has 21 episodes (counting the mini movie as the last 4) and is available on DVD as the “The Complete Book Three Collection”

All three seasons are on Netflix Watch Instantly, but some episodes duck in and out of availability. 

Excellent! Good to know there’s some standard for this weird “is she alive or not?” zone.

We didn’t receive any compelling evidence that Toph was dead. Most people who argued that she was claim that EVERYONE we saw in that flashback was dead (Sokka, Toph, Aang, Regretful Eyes), but we have even less basis for that than thinking Toph was dead in the first place.

We don’t know if Toph is alive or dead.

This is our stance on Toph until:

1) Someone brings us a quote from one of the creators commenting on Toph’s life status

2) It’s addressed in The Legend Of Korra

3) It’s addressed in The Promise

-Da7e-

Of course – all theories are valid until disproved, so keep ‘em coming.