Avatar: The Legend of Korra - Book 4

[The_Damned]

(It’s entirely possible that happened, especially given that we don’t yet know what happened to Ty Lee after the war. At this point, it seems pretty much inevitable that Amon is going to be related to Ty Lee in some way, even if it’s not by blood.

Then again, I thought the same thing about Yakone & Tarrlok being related to Hama and that seems like it’s not the case.)

Poor Asami indeed. I can understand her insecurity, especially since Mako & Korra refuse to mention it and she probably doesn’t feel like she could get a straight answer even if she asked, which seems confirmed with how Bolin “answered” her. I just hope that it doesn’t accelerate to the point where they end up breaking up over it, especially mid-season finale.

…Ugh. I’m sounding like a shipper, but it’s really me wanting, just once, for the main character to not end up with the first-sight “obvious” love interest seemingly just because. It worked with Katara & Aang because neither of them were able to date anyone else, partly because of the war, and even then it’s not like there weren’t other suitors.

Lin pulling up Bolin’s zipper with her metalbending was… ROFL!!!

Indeed.

I forgot to ask, but this question occurred to me: Does that alone make metalbenders top tier given they could potentially go Something About Mary on your junk from a distance??

I think kataara was the prosecutor although I could be mistaken.

It’s possible, but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t for reasons pointed above. That and the fact that they would have pointed out Katara if she was actually in the courtroom like they did with the rest of the Gaang.

Well, that and it would have been further biased to have the prosecutor be the sister of the lead councilman.

^ But they did explain why Yakone and Tarrlok can bloodbend at any time. That’s why Sokka mentioned Combustion Man. Some people just have rare bending abilities. Yakone and Tarrlok are the water versions of Combustion Man. Their abilities just far exceed those of other bloodbenders. It’s a simple explanation and makes sense.

No, they didn’t explain anything, at least to the extent that they’ve explained or at least further elaborated some of the other “prodigies” like Toph, who is so powerful because she’s blind not in spite of it, or Jeong Jeong being so strong because of his philosophy (and old age). Even with the more unexplained people like Azula or Combustion Man or Katara, there was never the implication that it was inherited rather than just genetic in the terms of a “fluke”.

Yakone & Tarrlok being so absurdly powerful at the exact same thing just because they’re related (since Tarrlok said nothing about his father teaching him; hell, his dad seems to have abandoned him) is a first, which seems like it merits at least some explanation on the methodology of their abilities or, at least, its limitations.

Oh well.

[Saturius]

No, they didn’t explain anything, at least to the extend that they’ve explained or at least further elaborated some of the other “prodigies” like Toph, who is so powerful because she’s blind not in spite of it, or Jeong Jeong being so strong because of his philosophy (and old age). Even with the more unexplained people like Azula or Combustion Man or Katara, there was never the implication that was it was inherited rather than just genetic in the terms of a “fluke”.

Yakone & Tarrlok being so absurdly powerful at the exact same thing just because they’re related (since Tarrlok said nothing about his father teaching him; hell, his dad seems to have abandoned him) is a first, which seems like it merits at least some explanation on the methodology of their abilities or, at least, its limitations.

Oh well.

I still don’t really understand what you mean. Sometimes people are just stronger than others and that’s all the explanation needed. That’s why Katara was strong enough to overpower Hama’s bloodbending. Yakone and Tarrlok just happen to be two benders whose bloodbending is stronger than the average bloodbender. Bloodbending seems common enough in Republic City to the point where it’s outlawed. Since Tarrlok knew his dad was a bloodbending master, it’s not a stretch to assume he just tried it himself one day and figured out that he was gifted beyond the norm when it came to the art, just like Combustion Man.

What other explanation is really needed? What explanation would you have wanted to have? That’s why Sokka was talking about rare bending abilities. It’s like if you were to ask why people like Mozart or Einstein were so gifted. It was just luck of the draw and they just were I guess. I can see why people would probably want more, but what was given worked for me. Some people can do things better than others.

[subt-L]

that teaser for next week… thats not even fair to us. someone time bend this week plz.

[snksuki]

Haven’t seen the episode yet but I hope we don’t see any of that useless BS shipping nonsense only idiots seem to indulge.

[MOB712]

In the teaser for the season finale it looks like Mako is being bloodbended while he watches Amon take Korra’s bending away.

[gunners]

Also doesn’t really help that Airbending is the best at fighting from long distance and she still can’t even use that it seems. That and, despite how broken he seems to be, Amon has literally never fought alone so far or, at least, hasn’t appeared without back-up.

He’s all about efficiency, it was refreshing to see him sneak attack Korra with his gang after she challenged him to a one on one fight.

[The_Damned]

(I really hate to imagine the flame wars over the current “shipping” bullshit for this show.)

Oh, I’m not saying that Amon is inefficient or even weak because he always has back-up. I’m just saying that even playing a distance game isn’t as simple as “stay away from Amon” given you have to worry about his extraordinarily competent mooks as well.

Damned, I got this for you

shipping image

…I profoundly dislike you.

Also, please tell me you just found that rather than Photoshopping it yourself. Even if you have to lie to me.

I still don’t really understand what you mean. Sometimes people are just stronger than others and that’s all the explanation needed.

Oh, I’m not saying any more explanation was “needed”, per se, just that it seems slightly unsatisfactory for it not to be elaborated further or shown to have some type of limitation given how powerful it is.

That’s why Katara was strong enough to overpower Hama’s bloodbending.

I thought part, if not most of that, was because Hama got distracted trying to make Sokka impale Aang. She basically had both hands full and wasn’t paying attention to Katara anymore on top of it pissing off Katara.

Yakone and Tarrlok just happen to be two benders whose bloodbending is stronger than the average bloodbender. Bloodbending seems common enough in Republic City to the point where it’s outlawed.

Also debatable. We know it’s outlawed, but not why it had to be formally outlawed. Was it because a bunch of people could do it? Or just because it was already an “open secret” since at least a bunch of people knew about it since Hama used it kidnap a boatload of people and it spread via word-of-mouth before the war even ended?

Since Tarrlok knew his dad was a bloodbending master, it’s not a stretch to assume he just tried it himself one day and figured out that he was gifted beyond the norm when it came to the art, just like Combustion Man.

That’s just the thing though. Besides knowing literally nothing about Combustion Man, Tarrlok didn’t have any formal teaching that we were made aware of and his father seems to basically have abandoned him in that courtroom. Maybe he taught him stuff before that, but flashback Tarrlok seemed quite young. Additionally, unlike the other types of bending, bloodbending is pretty egregious since you have to do it on something or someone living. I guess he could have practiced on rats or something like Hama did when she initially discovered it, but we have no clues to go off of.

I’m saying they could have given us a throwaway line or two further explain how he came to be so strong or something like “I trained everyday to become better than my father” or…anything, really.

I’m just going to file this one away under “It Just Bugs Me” for now.

[Saturius]

Oh, I’m not saying any more explanation was “needed”, per se, just that it seems slightly unsatisfactory it to be elaborated or shown to have some type of limitation given how powerful it is.

I think the limitation of absurdly powerful bloodbending is the fact that, thankfully, not many people are going to have the busted power levels on the magnitude of these two. I’m not sure how common metal bending is currently in Republic City, but even in the flashback of the trial, the prosecutor was stating that blood bending was still a rare ability. So the potential for someone to bloodbend is small, which makes the potential for someone to have broken bloodbending abilities even smaller. That’s the only real “limitation” or “balance” if you will. It does mean that the rare times when people come around who do possess these advanced bloodbending abilities(Tarrlok, Yakone) they’re probably going to be unstoppable. You just gotta hope the Avatar or a powerful waterbender is going to be around to resist the effects and stop them.

It’s seems very similar to Combustian Man. He was absurdly powerful. If every firebender possessed his unique ability plus their ability to firebend, it could be catastrophic. But the cases are rare. I suspect the same is true for Tarrlok and Yakone. They were possibly one in a million, and certainly not typical, so I don;t think we have to worry about every bloodbender becoming unbeatable on the show. I suspect most still will have to require a full moon to even bloodbend at all.

[The_Damned]

(Oh, it’s not that I think Tarrlok was unbeatable or anything. Amon proved that obviously. It’s more that rarity itself shouldn’t be the sole countermeasure, especially if someone manages to overcome that restriction. We’ll probably at least eventually learn why Amon just shrugged it off, though. Maybe.)

Since we keep mentioning Combustion Man, as much as I liked the guy, especially on a visual design level (despite his asymmetry), I don’t get why the guy is such a “big deal” on a Firebending level.

Sure, he had more powerful than average blasts that didn’t really seem to tax him or use up as much of his concentration like most other firebenders, but I actually saw him as rather…limited compared to what other Firebenders could do; I think that’s part of the reason this whole “Yakone & Tarrlok are just that good” thing is so difficult to accept.

I mean, he got powerful, cannon-like fiery “mind” blasts, but we never saw him use any other Firebender techniques, even to defend his obvious up-close weakness since he wasn’t immune to his own power’s explosions (seeing as that’s what killed him). He most likely couldn’t use Lightningbending either, which actually seems like it’s pretty common “nowadays”, though maybe not as common as “metalbending” since that seems a prerequisite to be an active duty police officer; it’s difficult to tell which is actually more common, though.

Still, Sparky Sparky Boom Man seems like he sacrificed versatility like Rocket Boots or Flame Shields or Riding the Lightning for powerful yet linear attacks from a “Please! Hit Me HERE!” spot on his forehead that he couldn’t use up-close. So, while strong, he seemed “balanced” by having actual, exploitable flaws.

Meanwhile bloodbending, with its full moon restriction removed, basically seems like “Are you Amon, the adult Avatar or Katara? No? You lose.” People are obviously actively resisting it and still getting bodied en-masse.

I hope that explains what I’m getting at more, even if it doesn’t ultimately have to do with wanting things “explained” in the capacity I was perhaps getting at earlier. Sorry for the confusion regardless.

[CDB2]

I

Fuck that, like the episode said, I’m calling him The Solution™ now.

I second this!!!
Amon…aka…The Solution™:

Fuckin’ up your bending since day 1!!

[jak_d_ripr]

The episode was okay, but I hated how inconsequential the flashback they had been hyping for like 3 episodes turned out to be. It was like okay, these dudes are related… that was it. Maybe it woulda been a cool revelation if it was before tarlook revealed he was an asshole and a blood bender, but for me the flashback finished and I was like “that was it?”. I love this show, but that was one of the weakest episodes of the season so far, and I mean thats not saying much considering how good the seasons been so far but still.

Oh well, looks like they will make up for it with the next three episodes, those three look bonkers.

[Ragnorok64]

The importance thing is that she managed to actually managed to contact Aang’s memories at will. As an Avatar that is spiritually underdeveloped that’s a pretty big step.

[Grimmjow316]

Forever twinkle toes.

Sent from Hueco Mundo using Garganta Talk.

[Radiantsilvergun3]

Yeah. Amon seriously needs his own (boss) music entitled “Resisting the Resistance is Futile”.

If any of my future plans pan out I’ll be stealing this for a songs title. Just giving you a heads up.

[Kusanagi02]

I guarantee whats gonna happen in the finale is that when Amon attempts to take her bending away its gonna somehow activate her Avatar state and she’s gonna end up wrecking his shit and then she’s gonna knock his mask off and we get the big reveal of who Amon really is to end the season on a cliffhanger.

[Tanion]

Amon looked like he was doing some sort of weird bending stance with his hand in the season finale preview. Like a Blood Bending pupeeter thing. Maybe the reason he was able to fight Tarrlock’s blood bending is that he can blood bend himself?

[rayplay]

Now more than ever I think Amon is Aang, but even still, I think it’s highly unlikely. But seriously, Amon is one badass muh the fuk ah.

Spoiler

Aang nearly DIED fighting Yakone and he was only able to resist the blood bending by using the avatar state. Amon essentially did it out of SHEER FUCKING WILL!! I figured that if anyone was going to give Amon a run for his money, it would be Turhrok and his blood bending, and beat him free. And lol when Korra attacks Amon, and he charges at her and she takes off running. Just shows how no one fucks with this guy. Yet.

[Sacr3D]

It cannot be Aang because Kora would not be born and be able to bend all elements.

[snksuki]

I don’t get why amon is so OP, he just beat the living shit of nearly every bender for free…either the benders got weaker or some unusual writing is at play. Amon is reminding me of batman in the sense that he is doing things he shouldnt be able to do.

[Tanion]

I’m going to go against people saying the prosecutor is Katara. That hoe always has her hair loopys did. The prosecutor clearly did not have any so that can’t be Katara.