Legend of Korra Recap: Welcome to Republic City/A Leaf in the Wind

Welcome to Republic City!

In a sentence or so: We meet the next Avatar and discover she's a badass chick from the southern water tribe who sucks at air bending. She follows the child of the previous Avatar to teach her how to master air bending and discovers that Republic City isn't the dream of peace and balance Avatar Aang had in mind.

She sucks at air bending. This makes her mad.
What went down: Korra is pretty kickass at bending water, earth, and fire already. She's stubborn, plucky, sarcastic and smart. I love her a whole helluva lot. She's not all "listen bitches, I'm the Avatar so BOW DOWN", but she certainly knows she is the most powerful bender in the whole dang world. She is confident, not cocky. I repeat, I love her. She also has a rad polar-bear dog that she rides around all HBIC style.

We start to hear the murmurings that things aren't all rainbows and sunshine in Republic City, the capitol of the nations. There is a growing division between benders (those who can manipulate the natural elements of air, earth, wind and fire) and those who can't bend. There are some who say that the benders are oppressing the non-benders. I have to agree when Korra stops a bending mafia from roughing up a storefront.

Why it matters: Korra is on a journey to find her own damn way, damn it. This is SO YA Literatureiffic. She is flawed, yet we root for her.

Class conflict, y'all! Benders are basically supreme because they can, you know, BEND THE ELEMENTS. This causes strife. Strife causes conflict. Conflict resolution requires heroes. You see where I'm going with this.
Mysterious resistance man is mysterious.

Quote of the episode: "So, do you live in that bush?"

Closing thoughts: This is an amazing premiere episode. We learn so much about what's going on in the world we've left behind from Avatar Aang and gang. But if you're just tuning in for the first time, you're totally caught up and aware of what's going down. Nicely done, writers.

A Leaf in the Wind

In a sentence or so: Korra continues to suck at air bending, mostly because she's stubborn. After sneaking out to a pro-bending match, she meets some unlikely new teachers - happy-go-lucky Bolin and his brooding brother Mako. 

What went down: Tenzin, Korra's air bending teacher, tries to teach her. It fails. She gets all frustrated because she can't meditate and she can't calm her mind and she can't let the wind guide her through this super easy puzzle that the 4 year old air benders have already mastered. Feeling all sorts of angsty, she decides to sneak out and watch a professional bending match.
Professional bending is badass.

She is caught almost immediately upon sneaking in to the match, but her avatar ass is saved by a lighthearted boy who turns out to be one of the professional benders. She meets his teammates, who are anything BUT warm to her, but she stick around anyway because she does what she wants. Korra volunteers herself for the next match when one of their teammates bails on them, and ends up getting busted by Tenzin. Thankfully, she also makes a breakthrough with airbending so it's all cool in the end.

Why it matters: We meet the angsty and supremely AMAZING love interest Mako. Yeah, they are playing it pretty subtle for now but we ALL KNOW that this is going to happen. There is some PG bow chicka bow wow in their near future. I mean for realz, check this kid? I know it's weird to say he's sexy because he is animated AND a teenager...but whatever. It's still true.

It's okay. You can admit Mako is hot.
Korra is making it known that she's in Republic City, so the non-bender division is starting to get riled up. My life will be easier once I know what this resistance calls themselves. No doubt it is something awesome. I mean seriously, the leader wears this V mask. So you know they have their shit together.

Quote of the episode: "You're the avatar. And I'm an idiot."

Closing thoughts: Something I ADORE about this show is the balance of Serious Problems and Self Discovery with slapstick and silly humor. In one frame we see a snot bubble blowing out of a toddler's nose and in the very next scene we have a "I HATE YOU" match between Korra and Tenzin. The episode wraps up nicely with Korra admitting her flaws and making everyone love her more. The roller coaster of emotions is just so dang real and authentic and fantastic to be a part of. 

What were you most excited about from the premiere? 
Any predictions for the show?
Let me know! 



  1. My brother's gf is the one who got me into The Last Airbender; and a week and a half ago she texted me with "OMG NEW ZUKO IS SO HOT." Because we both loved Zuko, but...oh man. Mako. Yes. I am so down with that (no matter how animated or teenager he may be).

    More importantly though, I was quite impressed with Legend of Korra! It's unfair to her that I love(d) Aang so much and I think she's less lovable than him -- but I think thats mostly because he was this endearing 12 year old kid that we could grow to love, while she's this stubborn moody teenager already. It's an interesting time to introduce us to her.

    I also think the littlest airbender kid (I can't remember his name!) is hilarious, especially when he started mimicking Korra fire-destroying the wind screens.

    I'm intrigued how they're going to build this world that doesn't quite respect the Avatar in the way we knew from The Last Airbender, and I really look forward how they're going to blend the old/traditional teaching (Tenzin) with the modern world (Pro-Bending). Also, I want to know what happened with Soka + Suki!

    1. I will forever have a spot in my heart for the damaged Prince Zuko!

      You make a good point about WHEN we meet Korra versus when we met Aang. I think Korra is endearing in a totally different way. The world will need a hardass, whereas before with Aang, there were too many hardasses to go around.

  2. As you might expect, Legend of Korra has been impatiently awaited by our very own Cora - we had to record the premiere and are planning on watching it for Family Movie Night this weekend. Can't wait - especially after your recap!

  3. I was swept up in this the other day as my son was watching. We used to watch The Last Airbender (the Aang version) and I got sucked into this one just as easily. And you are so right, it is YA Literaturerific in every way!

    And this:


    Yep. It is. My hot animated dream guy is Flynn Rider from Tangled. But Mako is a close second:)

    1. I'm so glad you can appreciate an animated teen hottie too!

  4. Yes, Mako is hot. I have no problem admitting that since I always thought Zuko and Jet were hot, anyway. I love animated dudes! I am rad (read: weird) like that....

    I loved these two episodes. I feel very, very good about how this series is going to go down and can't wait find out all the cool things like, who is still alive from A:TLA, and who the baddie is.

    Come read my posts ala yours on my blog, Lisa! http://abnormallyparanormal.blogspot.com/2012/04/legend-of-korra-episode-recaps-episodes.html

  5. "My life will be easier once I know what this resistance calls themselves."

    I'm here to make your life easier. They call themselves the Equalists. The guy in the park on podium said “Are you tired of living under the tyranny of Benders? Then join the Equalists!”

    1. THANK YOU. If there were a way to high five you through the interwebs, I SO would.

  6. I LOVED the first two episodes so much, When I heard they were for free on Itunes I did a fangirl scream and immediately downloaded it. Avatar was the best animated cartoon I've ever watched on television, so naturally I was all pumped for this spin-off series.

    My favorite part is when Melo immitates what Korra does after she leaves and breaks the bricks on the ground. I laughed so hard watching that! :)

    1. Avatar really is an amazing series! I also adore Batman: The Animated Series, but for very different reasons!

  7. I am a loser because I still haven't seen these two episodes but NO KIDDING I am having palpitations just from this blog post.


    (I could swoop on in there and show Korra a thing or two.) I'm flailing right now. And I'm an adult. My girls are all "We've seen it Mom, what's the big deal? And WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE YOURE A GROWNUP BLAH BLAH BLAH."

    1. I love you even though you are an air bender.


    2. We can live in harmony, like Aang would have it.

    3. *Butts in* Water bending for life!

  8. So I don't watch this show, although I'm CONVINCED that I would love it. I have to catch up on ALL THE THINGS! But I'm always hearing great, fangirling things about The Legend of Korra and seriously, Mako? I have no problem admitting it: he's hot. I just this instant developed a crush on an animated person. WORD.

  9. First of all, Husband and I watched the first two episodes and it is AWEsome! For reals. Although, I was kind of heartbroken to find out that pretty much everyone is now dead.

    Second, it's okay to like a cartoon character. I'm pretty much in love with Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Also, you NEED to watch Fullmetal. I think you would rather like it :]

  10. Woah How did I not know this show existed?!?

  11. BRO. You nailed this. I found myself squealing with each thing you said.

    "Professional bending is badass."

    YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT. I was in total, slack-jawed awe when I saw it for the first time. I was rooting for our team in a way I never took an interest in baseball or football XD And MAKO. He is... delicousness. I don't care if he's animated he is sexy as heck and I just want Korra and Mako to get down and admit feeling THINGS for each other ALREADY. But, I can be patient. Sort of. Yesterday's episode was DA BOMB.

    1. Yeah, the episode yesterday was THE BUSINESS. Recap to come on Wednesday, naturally. MWAH.


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