The Legend of Korra | |
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Season 4 Book Four: Balance | |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Release | |
Original network | Nick.com |
Original release | October 3 – December 19, 2014 |
Season chronology | |
Book Four: Balance is the fourth and final season of the animated television series The Legend of Korra by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It consists of thirteen episodes ("chapters"), all animated by Studio Mir. The episodes were made available on the Nickelodeon website and other online outlets each Friday beginning on October 3, 2014 and premiered on Nicktoons on November 28, 2014. Critical reception of Book Four, as of the series in general, was positive.
Book Four is set three years after the previous season. It deals with Avatar Korra's journey of self-discovery following the trauma she suffered in Book Three, and with the security officer Kuvira's campaign to unite the Earth Kingdom under her authoritarian leadership. [1]
The season is followed by the graphic novel trilogy Turf Wars , that picks up immediately after the series finale.
After Nickelodeon cut the budget for season 4 by about the amount required for one episode, DiMartino and Konietzko decided to include a clip show episode, which reuses previously produced animation, instead of letting many of the creative staff go. Inspired by Samurai Champloo 's clip show episode "The Disorder Diaries", they chose to frame a series of edited clips from the previous seasons of The Legend of Korra with about five minutes of new animation. Aired as episode 8, "Remembrances", the clip show was also intended as "a lighthearted romp" similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender's episode "The Ember Island Players" before the series enters its dénouement. [2]
The season was generally well-received by critics. Critics generally enjoyed the main villain Kuvira and thought she complemented Korra well. [3] [4] IGN's Max Nicholson felt the overarching plot of Kuvira's military campaign was not as ambitious as previous seasons', though he still enjoyed it. Nicholson also praised the season for its handling of themes like war, dictatorship, weapons of mass destruction and post-traumatic stress disorder. [3]
"Korra Alone" was praised by critics as one of best episodes of the entire series, [5] [6] [7] described by Nicholson as "masterful and heart-wrenching." [3] "Day of the Colossus" received positive reviews for its action sequences, [4] [8] described by ScreenCrush's Matt Patches as "22-minutes of set-piece wizardry, featuring some of the most imaginative, heart-pounding action I've ever seen." [9] In contrast, the clip show "Remembrances" was singled out as a weak point in the season. [3] [10] [11]
In the final scene of the season and the series, Korra and Asami face each other holding hands. This scene recalls the earlier wedding scene between Zhu Li and Varrick, as well as the last shot of Avatar: The Last Airbender , in which Aang and Katara kiss. It was subject to discussion outside of entertainment media, notably after the series' creators confirmed that the scene was meant to signify Korra and Asami becoming a romantic couple. [12] According to Joanna Robinson for Vanity Fair , who described the series finale as "the most subversive television event of the year", it "changed the face of TV" by going further than any other work of children's television in depicting same-sex relationships [13] – an assessment shared by reviewers for TV.com, [14] The A.V. Club , [4] USA Today , [15] IGN, [16] Moviepilot [17] and The Advocate . [18] Megan Farokhmanesh of Polygon wrote that by portraying Korra and Asami as bisexual, the series even avoided the error of assuming sexual orientation, as many other TV series did, to be a strict divide between "gay" and "straight". [19] In 2018, io9 ranked the final scene #55 on its list of "The 100 Most Important Pop Culture Moments of the Last 10 Years". [20]
Like the third season, the final season received a 100% rating from 9 reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 9/10. [21]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
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40 | 1 | "After All These Years" | Colin Heck | Joshua Hamilton | October 3, 2014 | 214 |
Three years after the defeat of Zaheer, the vain Prince Wu is about to be crowned Earth King, and Mako is assigned as his bodyguard. In the Earth Kingdom, Opal and Kai try to protect a community from bandits with limited success. Kuvira, who now styles herself the "Great Uniter", appears at the head of an army that includes Bolin, Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li. She offers the governor supplies and protection – if he submits his state to her sovereignty. The governor reluctantly agrees, and their conversation reveals that this has become a pattern as Kuvira consolidates more and more of the Earth Kingdom under her authority, which begins to appear increasingly despotic. Elsewhere, a despondent Korra is fighting and losing cage matches, having apparently renounced her identity as the Avatar. | ||||||
41 | 2 | "Korra Alone" | Ian Graham | Michael Dante DiMartino | October 10, 2014 | 215 |
Over the past three years, a despondent Korra has been slowly recovering her health with the aid of physical therapy and healing administered by Katara at the South Pole, following her torture and poisoning at the hands of the Red Lotus. However, the effects of the assault and the other suffering and losses that she has faced has left her psychologically traumatized, and haunted by doubts that she will ever be the same again, and she has not been into the Avatar State since the assault. Tricking her family and friends into believing she has returned to Republic City, she is in fact wandering aimlessly throughout the world, isolating herself as much as possible from human contact. She is haunted by a dark vision of herself as she appeared in the fight with Zaheer, which appears to watch her wherever she goes. A spirit leads her into the banyan swamps which previously featured in Avatar: The Last Airbender, where her doppelganger apparition chases her down and attacks her, and she suffers a hallucination of drowning, but regains consciousness in the abode of Toph Beifong. | ||||||
42 | 3 | "The Coronation" | Melchior Zwyer | Tim Hedrick | October 17, 2014 | 216 |
At Wu's coronation in Republic City, Kuvira refuses to yield power to him, instead announcing that she will consolidate the territories under her control into a new Earth Empire. This creates a rift between her and the other world leaders including Suyin, as well as between Bolin and Mako, who has to protect the unpopular Wu from angry supporters of Kuvira. Meanwhile, in the banyan swamp, Toph agrees to help Korra regain her strength, though her methodology largely consists of browbeating Korra and beating her up with still formidable earthbending. She finds residual metal poison inside Korra but can't remove it – Korra subconsciously resists, scarred by her previous traumas. Meanwhile, Tenzin sends Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo to search for Korra, and Varrick experiments on spirit vines for Kuvira. | ||||||
43 | 4 | "The Calling" | Colin Heck | Katie Mattila | October 24, 2014 | 217 |
While the young airbenders look far and wide for Korra, Ikki is briefly captured by two Earth Empire soldiers. Based on what they say, Ikki leads the trio to the Foggy Swamp. There, Korra is still haunted by visions of being hurt by her past enemies, but manages to connect to the siblings through the great banyan-grove tree's roots. After they beg her to resume her Avatar duties to face Kuvira, Toph's advice helps Korra to let go of her fears, bend the rest of the poison out of herself and re-enter the Avatar State. | ||||||
44 | 5 | "Enemy at the Gates" | Ian Graham | Joshua Hamilton | October 31, 2014 | 218 |
As Kuvira's army marches on Zaofu, Suyin refuses to let her city join the new empire, and Korra tries in vain to negotiate a peaceful outcome. Varrick and Bolin come to realize the totalitarian nature of Kuvira's rule, but their escape is foiled by Kuvira's fiancé, Suyin's son Baatar Jr. (Todd Haberkorn). While Zhu Li pledges her allegiance to Kuvira, Varrick is forced to weaponize the spirit vines for her, and Bolin is to be sent to a "reeducation" camp. In Republic City, Asami reconnects with her imprisoned father, Hiroshi. | ||||||
45 | 6 | "The Battle of Zaofu" | Melchior Zwyer | Tim Hedrick | November 7, 2014 | 219 |
After Suyin and her twin sons are captured while infiltrating Kuvira's camp to take her out, Kuvira agrees to a duel with Korra to decide control of Zaofu. Although now free of the effects of the Red Lotus poison, Korra remains off-balance and Kuvira goads her to gain further advantage, consistently outmaneuvering Korra. Unable to otherwise gain the advantage, Korra enters the Avatar State and prepares to deliver a devastating blow, until she hallucinates a vision of her dark spectre in Kuvira's place and collapses to the ground. Opal, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo save Korra and flee with her on the back of an air bison. Meanwhile, Varrick and Bolin escape after Varrick improvises a spirit vine bomb. Kuvira forces Zaofu's citizens to submit, and has Baatar Jr. and Zhu Li continue work on the vine superweapon. | ||||||
46 | 7 | "Reunion" | Colin Heck | Michael Dante DiMartino | November 14, 2014 | 220 |
As Korra reunites with her friends in Republic City, Wu is abducted on Kuvira's orders. Korra, Asami, and Mako rescue him from a train and hide him with Mako's family in Asami's mansion. Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick encounter escapees from Kuvira's prison camps, which now house anyone not of Earth Kingdom blood, and help them escape from the now walled-in Empire. In the swamp, Kuvira's forces begins harvesting the spirit tree's vines. | ||||||
47 | 8 | "Remembrances" | Michael Dante DiMartino | Joshua Hamilton, Katie Mattila & Tim Hedrick | November 21, 2014 | 221 |
In a clip show episode, Mako, Korra, and Bolin recollect their past. Mako tells Wu about his romantic entanglements and eventual breakup with Asami and Korra. Korra talks to Asami about her confrontations with Amon, Unalaq, Vaatu, and Zaheer. Varrick presents Bolin's life to the Earth Empire refugees in the style of an action film pitch in which Bolin defeats all of Korra's previous enemies. | ||||||
48 | 9 | "Beyond the Wilds" | Ian Graham | Joshua Hamilton | November 28, 2014 | 222 |
In Republic City, Fire Lord Izumi and Tenzin refuse to endorse Raiko's proposed offensive against Kuvira even after Bolin and Varrick bring word of her vine weapons research. Reacting to Kuvira's harvesting of the spirit vines in the swamp, vines in Republic City begin to attack random people, Jinora included, trapping them in the Spirit World. Korra's psychological trauma prevents her from meditating to enter the Spirit World. Unable to think of another way to let go of the fear that continues to handicap, Korra decides to confront the real Zaheer in his prison. Zaheer, disgusted with the rise of a tyrant like Kuvira, who stands as the antithesis to the philosophies of the Red Lotus, proposes to help Korra. He assists her in learning to pass beyond the trauma of her past hardships, and helps her step into the Spirit World, where Korra speaks with Raava for the first time in many years. Using her restored ability to communicate with the spirits, Korra calms the volatile vines and frees Jinora and the other human captives. Meanwhile, Bolin attempts and fails to make up with Opal, but agrees to help her and Lin rescue their family. | ||||||
49 | 10 | "Operation Beifong" | Melchior Zwyer | Tim Hedrick | December 5, 2014 | 223 |
Near Zaofu, Opal, Lin, and Bolin are joined by Toph and track the Beifong prisoners to a facility where Baatar Jr. and Zhu Li are testing a vine energy supercannon. A rescue plan takes form, but tensions run high between the previously estranged Toph and Lin. Zhu Li proves to have been feigning her loyalty to Kuvira and attempts to sabotage the weapon, but her effort is discovered by Kuvira. The rescue team frees the captive Beifongs, who engage Kuvira and her forces together, before being forced to flee by Kuvira's superior numbers. Lin and Toph find a measure of reconciliation. Zhu Li reveals that Kuvira is planning an imminent attack on Republic City; she is determined to retake all of the lands which the Earth Kingdom had once ceded to the United Republic. Meanwhile, Korra tries and fails to convince the spirits to help defend Republic City. | ||||||
50 | 11 | "Kuvira's Gambit" | Colin Heck | Joshua Hamilton | December 12, 2014 | 224 |
Wu and Mako help evacuate Republic City, and Asami and Varrick build a fleet of flying mecha-suits to defend it. But Kuvira's forces attack earlier than expected. Her superweapon, now mounted on a giant mecha, devastates the Republic's navy, forcing Raiko to surrender. Korra and the airbenders capture the mecha's creator, Baatar Jr. After Korra threatens to keep him from Kuvira forever, he attempts to convince Kuvira to end the attack, but she has the mecha fire on his position, in an attempt to take out the Avatar and her allies. | ||||||
51 | 12 | "Day of the Colossus" | Ian Graham | Tim Hedrick | December 19, 2014 | 225 |
Barely surviving Kuvira's attack, Korra and her friends look for ways to take down the colossus. They discover that the exterior and joints of the behemoth mecha tank are made entirely of rarefied platinum and thus immune to metal bending. After paint bombs, lavabending, metal cables, collapsed buildings, Korra's bending, and an electromagnetic pulse set up by Varrick all fail to stop the giant mecha for long, Lin frees Hiroshi Sato, who proposes to take the mecha down from the inside. Asami, Hiroshi, and the newly engaged Varrick and Zhu Li attach plasma torches to the two remaining flight suits, then engage the colossus. After Hiroshi sacrifices his life by allowing the mecha to crush his flight suit in order to gain enough time to cut open a hole to the interior of the colossus, Korra's assault team is able to enter it. | ||||||
52 | 13 | "The Last Stand" | Melchior Zwyer | Michael Dante DiMartino | December 19, 2014 | 226 |
In the mech's control room, Korra and Kuvira fight one another. Meanwhile, Team Avatar begin to take the giant apart from the inside. Suyin and Lin disable its arm and weapon, and Bolin and Mako detonate its power source, with Mako risking and nearly losing his life to blow the colossus into several pieces. Korra and Kuvira crash-land in the city's spirit wilds, and Kuvira activates the discarded cannon, triggering a staggering and self-sustaining release of energy powered by the vines surrounding them. Leaping to block the beam of the weapon from annihilating Kuvira, Korra enters the Avatar State and channels the massive outpouring of spirit energy, redirecting it and miraculously creating a third portal into the Spirit World. Emerging into the spirit world, Kuvira and Korra commiserate over their hardships and the mistakes they have made, and Kuvira concedes defeat and is arrested upon returning to the physical world. Weeks later, at Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding, Wu announces his intent to abdicate in favor of democratic Earth states. Korra and Asami plan a trip together to the spirit world; in the last scene of the series, the two walk hand-in-hand into the new spirit portal. |
The Legend of Korra, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Korra, or more rarely simply as Korra, is an American animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. A sequel to their previous series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which aired from 2005 to 2008, the series ran for 52 episodes ("chapters"), separated into four seasons ("books"), from April 14, 2012, to December 19, 2014. It has been continued as a comic book series.
Avatar Korra, commonly simply known as Korra, is the title lead character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, in which she is depicted as the current incarnation of Raava's Avatar—the spiritual embodiment of balance and change—responsible for maintaining peace and harmony in the world. She is the immediate reincarnation of Avatar Aang. The character was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and was voiced by Janet Varney, and by Cora Baker as a child.
Tenzin is a major character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. He is voiced by J. K. Simmons. Tenzin's father, Aang, was the Avatar who preceded Korra and kept world peace by preventing the Fire Nation from taking over the world during the Hundred Year War, which occurred about seventy years before the beginning of The Legend of Korra. Tenzin's mother, Katara, greatly assisted Aang in his efforts to save the Earth Kingdom from destruction. Tenzin is the youngest of the three children of Aang and Katara.
Book One: Air is the first season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Consisting of twelve episodes, it was initially intended to be a stand-alone epilogue miniseries sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender before the series was expanded to an order of four seasons ("books") of fifty-two episodes ("chapters") in total. Book One: Air aired from April 14 to June 23, 2012, on the Nickelodeon channel in the U.S., and is broadcast in other countries beginning in June 2012.
Book Two: Spirits is the second season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It consists of fourteen episodes ("chapters"). It focuses more on spiritual concepts and themes than the preceding season, Book One: Air. Ordered in early 2011, Book Two: Spirits began airing on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on September 13, 2013.
"Out of the Past" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra, which is a spin-off of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show follows Avatar Korra, the only person capable of bending all four elements, as she tries to maintain balance in the world, with this season focusing on her battle with Amon and his group of equalists as they intend to remove bending abilities from the world using Amon's ability to take bending away from an individual.
Mako is a major character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. He is voiced by David Faustino. Because he is a firebender, Mako is able to create and manipulate the classical element of fire. Mako also has the ability to both generate and redirect lightning. The character is named in honor of the late Mako Iwamatsu who voiced Iroh, a major supporting character, in the first two seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Bolin is a major fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. He is voiced by P. J. Byrne. Bolin is able to manipulate the classical element of earth, which is known as earthbending. It is revealed in the third season that he is also able to create and control lava, which is a very rare sub-ability called lavabending.
Book Three: Change is the third season of the animated television series The Legend of Korra, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and consists of thirteen episodes ("chapters"), all animated by Studio Mir. The season began airing on Nickelodeon in the U.S. on June 27, 2014. After leaked episodes and following declining ratings, the series stopped airing on Nickelodeon after episode 8 on July 25, 2014. Episodes 9 to 13 of Book Three were subsequently made available on the Internet weekly through Nickelodeon's website and on digital download platforms.
"Rebel Spirit" is the second season premiere of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra, and the 13rd episode overall. The episode's story was written by series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, it was written by Tim Hedrick, while was directed by Colin Heck. The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 13, 2013, immediately followed by the second episode, "The Southern Lights".
Asami Sato is a major character in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra (2012–2014). The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008), were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. She is voiced by Seychelle Gabriel. The series' final scene, indicating the beginning of a romantic relationship between Asami and the female lead character, Korra, was unprecedented in its representation of LGBT persons in western children's television, with the characters' relationship fully explored in the comic continuations Turf Wars (2017–2018), Ruins of the Empire (2019–2020), and Patterns in Time (2022–2023).
Zaheer is a recurring character in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra. He serves as the main antagonist of Book Three: Change, and his actions have lingering effects on Avatar Korra and the series' plot in the following book. The character was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and is voiced by Henry Rollins. The character was well received by critics as a complex and intimidating villain.
Lin Beifong is a fictional major character, voiced by Mindy Sterling, in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Lin's mother, Toph Beifong, greatly aided the previous avatar, Aang, in his efforts to save the Earth Kingdom from destruction. Lin is the older of Toph's two daughters.
Kuvira, also known as The Great Uniter, is a fictional major character in the 2014 third and fourth seasons of the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Introduced in a minor capacity in the third season of the series, she becomes the main antagonist of the fourth season, and a supporting protagonist of the 2019–2020 Ruins of the Empire comics. Kuvira was created with similar characteristics to the portrayal of protagonist Korra in prior seasons to highlight the changes she had made over the course of the series. Kuvira's character has been mostly met with positive reception. Critics note her motives as being understandable, while her actions are given political analogues.
The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars is a three-part graphic novel series written by Michael Dante DiMartino, with art by Irene Koh. It serves as a canonical continuation of the animated television series The Legend of Korra, created by DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The graphic novel trilogy is set after the show's final season, with Avatar Korra dealing with the aftermath of Kuvira's attack on Republic City, while also exploring her new relationship with Asami Sato.
The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire is a three-part graphic novel series written by Michael Dante DiMartino, with art by Michelle Wong. The series was first announced in October 2018 as a three-part extended sequel to The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, with the story centering on Avatar Korra and her allies as they deal with the fallout of Kuvira's surrender in the Earth Kingdom. Avatar Korra's romantic relationship with her close longtime friend Asami is also further explored in the series.
"Endgame" is the twelfth and final episode of the first season of the American animated televisipn series The Legend of Korra. Production occurred under the code 1123 and the episode was directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and Ki Hyun Ryu and written by the Avatar franchise creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. "Endgame" originally aired on Nickelodeon on June 23, 2012, and was animated by Studio Mir.
"Venom of the Red Lotus" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra, which is a spin-off to Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the 39th episode overall. The show follows Avatar Korra, the only person capable of bending all four elements, as she tries to maintain balance in the world, with this season focusing on her battle with The Red Lotus, led by Zaheer, as they intend to create an anarchist world free from government and the Avatar.
"Korra Alone" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Legend of Korra, which is a spin-off to Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the 41st episode overall. The show follows Avatar Korra, the only person capable of bending all four elements, as she tries to maintain balance in the world, with this season focusing on her battle with Kuvira as she plans to take over the Earth Kingdom and turn it into a dictatorship.
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