The Avatar Universe

That was supposed to be the last 4 episodes of the second season of Korra. I left out a pretty important descriptor. 
Yeah, I love the last season, although I don't love the ending. 

Honestly, it was the heavily implied budding relationship between Korra and Asami. For 4 seasons there was no hint at any kind of attraction between those two, and then they just walk off together hand in hand? I didn't believe it for a second. There wasn't anything in either of their characters that even hinted that either one of them was remotely attracted to another woman, let alone each other. I have a real problem with major character shifts like that that show up out of the blue. When I was in my 20's the people I know that came out and made the choice to live that truth of theirs went through some kind of emotional journey. I really think that a story that just throws a gay relationship in the mix without any prior history is almost belittling that journey. I expected more from the folks behind the Avatar series'. Previously they had been masters at characterizations and making people feel real. I was just surprised by how it was handled.

Supergirl has been doing just the opposite. The way they handled Alex's journey and decision to come out was really well done. I really believe her relationship with Maggie. It actually is one of the best relationships in the show, romantic or otherwise.

I actually went back and watched most of the 4th season again after the finale because that came out of nowhere for me too. The conclusion to which I eventually came is that I think there are scenes where they’re kind of laying the groundwork (the reunion in the restaurant for instance), but they had to be so circumspect about it because of the standards of Nickelodeon. Consequently, a scene that was (maybe, possibly) the start of a budding attraction between two women who had previously seen each other only as friends comes across as nothing more than Asami’s friendly concern for Korra’s well-being.

I bookmarked some interviews with the showrunners shortly after the final. It’s been a while since I read them, but I seem to remember that they acknowledge that aspects of that element could have been handled better. I'll see if I can dig them up. I really do blame Nick, and their censorship standards are so wonky.

I don’t want to derail the thread completely, but I absolutely agree with you about the characterization. The relationship between Tenzin and his adult siblings is a great depiction of how unresolved issues from childhood can come back.  Even contentious parents with the best of intentions can mess up their kids in unforeseen ways.


Man, I’m doubly sorry that I won’t be meeting you at the convention. I’ve finalized the script for the presentation I’ll be giving at (Re)Generation Who and it has Avatar AND Superman references.

We love Supergirl at my house. You’ve probably inferred from my other posts, but my daughter Lily and I are the real hardcore geeks in the family, and my wife is kind of on the periphery. It was a small thing, but we watched Monday’s episode, and my daughter called the Superman S-Shield “The Crest of the House of El”. (“Did you see that? That guy had the crest of the House of El on his shoulder!”) It was just such an endearing moment, because I like name for the S-Shield chevron too.

A friend once remarked about the geeky conversations I have with Lily, and how Jen doesn't always get the references:

"Poor Jen, it's like living with two immigrants who speak to each other in a foreign language all the time."

We were watching Supergirl the other and Jen asked why the one guy's eyes were glowing.

Lily: Because he's J'onn J'onzz.
Jen: ??
Lily: The Martian Manhunter?
Jen: I don't know who that is.
Lily: (Flabbergasted disbelief)

She said it in this mildly frustrated, but mostly just incredulous-that-that-someone-wouldn't-know-who-J'onn-J'onzz-is tone of voice.

I love Supergirl. I love how we have an evil monarch talking about how she wants to “Make Daxam Great Again.” I like how Snapper Carr tells Kara he can’t publish fake news because it might put a psychopath in the White House. He doesn’t actually mug for the camera, but he didn’t have to.

I’m really happy with how the supporting cast has evolved. Well, except for James. They don’t seem to know what to do with him. Maggie and Alex have some pretty great chemistry. I think Kara and Lena have great chemistry too, but I don’t think the showrunners want to push them into a romantic relationship. I wouldn’t mind more screen time with Lena and Kara just hanging out.

If you're talking about the scene in the final episode of Season 3, I can't deny the thought crossed my mind (and this is coming through someone who doesn't ship at all, or was aware this was a popular pairing). Maybe it was something about the framing or the intimacy or proximity, but I wondered if there was something there. I dismissed it, since I figured at the time I was just projecting that implication onto it.

However, when the next Season started up, and Korra explicitly says she only feels comfortable sharing her emotions with Asami, that seemed like a big flag to me, and when she blushes in the restaurant, I was pretty certain. But when I brought it up to people I was watching it with, they teased me pretty relentlessly for seeing what I wanted to see.

Anyway, looking back, I'm wondering if they were dating all the way to the beginning of Season 3. There was the off-hand 'girlfriend' comment, and it would explain why Mako was behaving EXTRA awkward around the two of them. While this does perhaps speak volumes of how ambiguous the whole thing was, on the flip side, it also implies that same sex couples are such an non-issue in the Avatar Universe, that it doesn't even warrant comment, which I like.

elkawho Maybe this could explain away the lack of emotional journey.  That there's no social stigmatism contributing to any inner turmoil.  It's just normal.

I think if I had seen that reaction under any other circumstances, I would have caught on to it sooner. But after six seasons of Avatar/Korra avoiding controversy (“Did Jet just die?” “You know, it was really unclear.”), I just assumed that they wouldn’t be willing/permitted to address same-sex relationships.


If I recall correctly, I think the showrunners said that Kya is gay. There is nothing at all to imply that in what we see on the screen, but I kind of like that. Her preferences are outside the scope of her role in the series, so there was no need to bring up the topic. Too often characters who happen to be gay are reduced to being “the gay character” and I’m pleased they didn’t do that with her.

I think there were two girls dancing with each other in the Headband, that episode in the original series where Aang goes undercover in the Fire Nation and reenacts the plot of Footloose. If I interpreted that scene correctly (and I’m not sure that I did), it’s pretty cool that same-sex relationships are apparently accepted.

And one more thing about Korra. I don't know how intentional it was, but I really liked that she was something of a counterpoint to the mopey teens of Smallville and the like. She's not angsting over her place in the world, and I think it's in her very first episode where she comes out and says, "Being a bender is pretty much the best thing ever." She's a healthy, attractive teenager with super-powers and she loves being who she is.

She goes through real growth over the course of the series, evolving from the headstrong young woman who tried to solve all of her problems with her fists to someone who is older and balanced and wise. She was occasionally capable of trenchant observations too. When Bolin asked her what Toph was like, Korra said something like, "I didn't think it was possible, but she's even unhappier than Lin." I thought that was an incisive observation, because I don't think Toph is happy at all, and first season Korra wouldn't have caught that.

I came across Avatar almost completely by accident. I was a big fan of Robotech as a kid. I'm from the generation of fans for whom that was our introduction to anime and I wanted to introduce my daughter to it. However, she was only six years old at the time, and even though she was remarkably precocious for her age, I thought she was just a little too young for it. So...I looked for an alternative that we could watch until she was old enough for the main event.

This was in the two week period when school had ended for the summer and my contracting job had ended and my new position had not yet started. We watched a lot of cartoons together. A friend had recommended Avatar highly ages ago, but I started the first episode and turned it off five minutes later, unimpressed.

From what I remembered of those five minutes, it seemed tolerable, but uninspired. I figured I could sit through a couple episodes if Lily took a liking to it.

So we started it...and finished the entire series inside of those two weeks.

I started it as something to kill time until she was old enough to watch Robotech, and, (it pains the child of the man I've become to say this) it wound up being better than Robotech.

(A year or two later, she sat down to watch Robotech with me. After our first episode was so down, she looked at me and asked, in apparent sincerity, which makes it hurt all the more, "So, is this one of those shows that's terrible on purpose?")

You said it better than I could. I wish they'd had these kind of shows when we were kids. Zuko's reunion with his uncle gets me every time.

Dark Horse, who have done the comic continuation of The Last Airbender are currently producing a storyline  focusing on Korra and Asami's vacation in the spirit world, and from there it moves on to the repercussions of the new Spirit Portal. Dark Horse are also in the middle of releasing an arc of The Last Airbender called North and South.

The first arc, The Promise, was released in 2012 and is what Zuko has to go through after becoming Firelord. The Search, addresses what happened to Zuko and Azula's mother. Then there's The Rift, Smoke and Shadow (Zuko faces rebellion by the New Ozai Society) and currently North and South, which is about conflict between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. The first four should be available in individual collections, while North and South is available in its first two parts, with part three due out soon.

A good library should stock them. Like anyone should need an excuse to visit a library. Well, maybe avoid The Library. The shadows are quite nasty.