The legend of Korra

[Morty]

Chi-blocking centers around targeting certain parts of the body cause paralysis and/or remove the ability to bend.

This means that there are certain points of the body that are connected to the realm of bending.

Amon is stated to be a master chi-blocker.

Amon is also a Bloodbender.

Along with moving a person's body any way they please, bloodbenders have the ability to f**k around inside the body. This is stated in written canon (crushing internal organs) as well as demonstrated in-show, with both Yakone and Tarrlok knocking people unconscious through bloodbending alone.

Amon is stated to use Bloodbending to remove bending (Getting Equalized feels exactly the same same as getting bloodbent, according to Tarrlok).

There are no outward signs of damage after this process, but an inward look, via Katara, reveals that he severs the victim's connection to the elements.

So basically, when Amon removes someone's bending, he's f**king around inside the person's body to do it.

I'm pretty sure that's more than enough evidence.

In fact, Chi-blocking is the only thing other than energybending (and, well, celestial bodies, but he doesn't seem to be doing anything in the name of the stars) that has been shown to have any effect on a person's base ability to bend. If he is not energybending, then Chi-Blocking is the only other thing he could be doing.

None of this is said in the show. This is just something you infer based on your background knowledge of the setting.

[John Cribati]

None of this is said in the show. This is just something you infer based on your background knowledge of the setting.

It doesn't have to be said. A lot of it is shown and more of it is told by canon sources.

And Katara does say that Korra's connection had been severed.

[Morty]

I guess it comes down to different standards for what we consider enough of an explanation. And besides, even if we accept this theory we still have no idea why Yakone and his sons had access to bloodbending on steroids.

[Seerow]

Honestly, I didn't think it needed to be any better explained. It made enough sense to me from what we saw.

What did bug me was that the Avatar's intervention was needed to restore the bending. I think that once they discovered what was causing it, other water benders (particularly Katara who knew about bloodbending) should have been able to figure out how to undo it.

If it had been spirit bending, as many people thought early on, then sure it makes sense it takes the Avatar to reverse it. But this was just straight up normal water bending. What one can do, another should be able to undo. It shouldn't take the intervention of the avatar to fix.

[Lord Seth]

Honestly, I didn't think it needed to be any better explained. It made enough sense to me from what we saw.

I'm just asking for a quick explanation. The characters never question it, they're just like "oh, bloodbending did that? Okay." They just accept the explanation without asking for any more details. It would've been really easy to put some kind of explanation in there.

What did bug me was that the Avatar's intervention was needed to restore the bending. I think that once they discovered what was causing it, other water benders (particularly Katara who knew about bloodbending) should have been able to figure out how to undo it.

If it had been spirit bending, as many people thought early on, then sure it makes sense it takes the Avatar to reverse it. But this was just straight up normal water bending. What one can do, another should be able to undo. It shouldn't take the intervention of the avatar to fix.

Aang being able to fix it actually did seem off. From what limited information we know about it, energybending appears to be some kind of spiritual intervention that just takes the bending out of you. Bloodbending is physical. It doesn't really make sense that energybending can fix the bloodbending, as they seem to work on different axes.

[Math_Mage]

But as shown by Aang in the flashback with Yakone, Avatar State trumps bloodbending in general. We can deduce that it also trumps bloodbending in this specific case. Maybe it was just a matter of the past lives shoving in enough spiritual force to break through whatever block was imposed by the bloodbending, like (pardon me for the comparison) Naruto blowing open closed tenketsu by shoving Kyuubi chakra through his system. Maybe Amon's bloodbending severed connections to bending energy at the interface, and it takes energybending to reforge those connections. Or maybe something completely different. I won't venture to stake a claim on any one theory,and it's not particularly necessary to establish which one is correct, but it's not surprising that Aang could give Korra her bending back.

[John Cribati]

Note that I still think that a lot about Amon, bloodbending, and... the plot in general... was poorly handled. But it isn't as much of a Charlie Foxtrot as people say it is, at least not to me.

[zimmerwald1915]

Note that I still think that a lot about Amon, bloodbending, and... the plot in general... was poorly handled. But it isn't as much of a Charlie Foxtrot as people say it is, at least not to me.

Well, some of the better Legend of Korra episodes are watchable and enjoyable enough. But the series was hyped to death and it would have had pretty big shoes to fill even if it wasn't. There's bound to be backlash.

[Morty]

That's true. Although in my case, being caught up in the "Wooo, new Avatar" feeling led me to excuse and explain away the failings of the show before the ending disappointed me thoroughly.

[BRC]

Well, some of the better Legend of Korra episodes are watchable and enjoyable enough. But the series was hyped to death and it would have had pretty big shoes to fill even if it wasn't. There's bound to be backlash.

It got threefold Hype.

First, we heard "Hey, new Avatar Series!" and we got excited.

Then, we heard "Kickass Female water tribe Avatar! In a 1920's Shanghai-meets-new york setting!" And we got crazy excited.

Then we saw the early episodes and we thought "Moral Ambiguity requiring significant character growth to overcome!" and we eagerly waited for the payoff we imagined that we had been promised.

Had somebody seen LoK without seeing AtLA, they would have called it a perfectly serviceable show. We were expecting to be blown out of the water.

[MLai]

The sad part is, it easily could have been written to blow us all out of the water. We didn't imagine it. Don't tell us the writers intended something completely different, and we nerdraged because the true story didn't fit our expectations.

We expected what was presented to us as "Moral Ambiguity requiring significant character growth to overcome!" with excellent execution early on. The writers must have seen the same thing we did; they wrote it that way!

But then the show started derailing past the midpoint. How do writers who start off with such great premise and execution, drift so badly and then wind up only writing a "serviceable" ending? I do not understand.

[BRC]

The sad part is, it easily could have been written to blow us all out of the water. We didn't imagine it. Don't tell us the writers intended something completely different, and we nerdraged because the true story didn't fit our expectations.

We expected what was presented to us as "Moral Ambiguity requiring significant character growth to overcome!" with excellent execution early on. The writers must have seen the same thing we did; they wrote it that way!

But then the show started derailing past the midpoint. How do writers who start off with such great premise and execution, drift so badly and then wind up only writing a "serviceable" ending? I do not understand.

I'm not saying we were WRONG to expect it, or that they get off the hook for squandering that potential.

If I had to guess, I would say that they came up with a list of setpieces they wanted to have, some of which were based off callbacks to the finale of AtLA.
They wanted that "Underdogs fight the massive technically superior army" feel from the first one. As a result, you get the Equalists turning from an insurrection into a massive army with lots of advanced equipment, organization, and training, just like the Fire Nation army, only this time it's supposed to be an underground movement that has remained hidden, not..well..an Army.

They wanted a reversal of the Aang vs Ozai fight, where the Avatar gets debent. As a result Amon gets the Idiot ball so he can loose anyway. (But then they needed to give her bending Back, so they could wrap everything up)

They wanted that "Darkest Hour" feeling that we got after the Day of Black Sun, here exemplified by the Amon mask on the Aang statue.

They wanted to end with the "hard won romantic interest kisses the Avatar".

Then they set about crafting an intricate world and a set of fascinating characters. An Avatar who knows nothing but power. Two street-urchin brothers, one who has the liberty of being carefree because the other took up all his cares. A police force using Metalbending in a fascinating new way, an ambitious city councilman, an overburdened father who must also be a politician, and the caretaker of a culture he never knew, and A mysterious rebel leader.

Then they set about connecting the Setting to the Setpieces, and it all fell flat. They built the story from the top down. They knew A and C, and tried to find B, rather than starting with A, and crafting B based on that. Bolin and Asasmi didn't really have much of a role in the setpieces, so they never got explored, even though they're supposedly the new core of Team Avatar. Amon and his Equalists had to suddenly become a dominant power so that Team Avatar could be the underdogs. There had to be a "Hard Fought romantic struggle" that eneded with Mako kissing Korra.

Although, in their defense, the creators WERE distracted. After all, A. Firebender DID kill their familes.

[MLai]

If that's how they wrote their story, then it's kind of like how I write my stories: Cool scenes first, then a story takes shape around them.
But part of that process is amending/deleting original setpiece ideas as necessary, as the story gets built.

My biggest non-Amon complaint regarding LoK would be the Makorra subplot. Some ppl say "Look what you did, Zutara shippers. Because of you we got Makorra." But the story of Makorra shows me that those 2 writers are STILL completely oblivious to what made Zutara tick. They heard the Zutara ship but they haven't learned a single thing! That's the sad part (#2).

Myself: The sad part is, it easily could have been written to blow us all out of the water. We didn't imagine it. Don't tell us the writers intended something completely different, and we nerdraged because the true story didn't fit our expectations.

This isn't directed at anyone in particular. It's my "reply" after reading Korra apologist blogs from other sites.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

What did bug me was that the Avatar's intervention was needed to restore the bending. I think that once they discovered what was causing it, other water benders (particularly Katara who knew about bloodbending) should have been able to figure out how to undo it.

If it had been spirit bending, as many people thought early on, then sure it makes sense it takes the Avatar to reverse it. But this was just straight up normal water bending. What one can do, another should be able to undo. It shouldn't take the intervention of the avatar to fix.

Any random person with a knife can greviously injure you, but they couldn't fix you; only a surgeon/doctor could. Same thing here, in general breaking something is a hell of a lot easier than fixing it.

[Morty]

Another interesting yet ignored dilemma occured to me today. Namely, did Korra restore everyone's bending? It can be safely assumed that she'd fix all common citizens whom Amon had Equalized. But what about Lightning Bolt Zolt, his goons and other criminals? Giving them back their bending means handing them back the tool they used for their crimes and abuses. Not giving it back means that, well, maybe Amon had a point?

[John Cribati]

Another interesting yet ignored dilemma occured to me today. Namely, did Korra restore everyone's bending? It can be safely assumed that she'd fix all common citizens whom Amon had Equalized. But what about Lightning Bolt Zolt, his goons and other criminals? Giving them back their bending means handing them back the tool they used for their crimes and abuses. Not giving it back means that, well, maybe Amon had a point?

Amon's "point" was that all benders are terrible people who will inevitably abuse their power to get more power. The fact that some benders are bad dudes doesn't prove his point at all.

And that doesn't get into the fact that, socioeconomically speaking, the existence of bender gangs in the first place points to benders having it harder.

[Scowling Dragon]

Or to all bender gangs easily destroying non-bender gangs.

Being a Non bender DOES suck in this world.

[John Cribati]

Or to all bender gangs easily destroying non-bender gangs.

Being a Non bender DOES suck in this world.

Ahem...

And that doesn't get into the fact that, socioeconomically speaking, the existence of bender gangs in the first place points to benders having it harder.

See the bold?

The point you're trying to make does not logically follow from that.

[MLai]

Ahem...
See the bold?
The point you're trying to make does not logically follow from that.

No it does follow.
Both benders and non-benders are subject to socioeconomic hardships that cause them to become criminals.
But the bender gangs naturally muscle out the non-bender gangs, not that there aren't non-bender criminals.

[Scowling Dragon]

No it does follow.
Both benders and non-benders are subject to socioeconomic hardships that cause them to become criminals.

Possibly LESS as they have more options available.

But the bender gangs naturally muscle out the non-bender gangs, not that there aren't non-bender criminals.

Pretty much.

[John Cribati]

That is conjecture that points to their prevalence.

I am talking about he fact that they even exist (well, existed).

[Scowling Dragon]

No that was NOT what you said:

And that doesn't get into the fact that, socioeconomically speaking, the existence of bender gangs in the first place points to benders having it harder.

Which outright does not make sense, as me and Mlai pointed out.

[Morty]

Amon's "point" was that all benders are terrible people who will inevitably abuse their power to get more power. The fact that some benders are bad dudes doesn't prove his point at all.

And that doesn't get into the fact that, socioeconomically speaking, the existence of bender gangs in the first place points to benders having it harder.

Yes, Amon's overall point was that bending itself is a blight. But the proof he used for his preaching was that benders abuse their power, and in case of LBZ and his gang it was certainly true - they did use their powers to terrorize others. Does Korra give them back their powers, thus allowing them to use it for this purpose again should they get free, or does she admit that they actually had it coming?

[Scowling Dragon]

And then does she become DAH LAWGIVER, deciding who deserves their bending?

[MLai]

What about A. Firebender? If they ever catch him, and find him guilty of multiple accounts of homicide, then isn't it right for the Avatar to take away his bending?

Avatar Aang took away Ozai's bending. If LB Zolt is as bad as IRL mafia bosses, doesn't he deserve his bending taken away just like Ozai?

[John Cribati]

I said: the fact that bender gangs exist points to there being hardships as a bender in life.

You responded: there were probably non-bender gangs that got pushed out by the bender gangs.

Your response was about why we see bender gangs but no non-bender gangs. It is logical. But it is only tangentially related to what I was trying to say, which was that being a bender probably wasn't an automatic "I win at life" ticket.

And here's a thing I found on tumblr that's related to... All of this.

Spoiler

Show

in real life, just bc we don’t receive all sides of the story, it doesn’t mean our side is the only one that is valid. in a story, the side(s) that the writers choose to give us is the side that is meant to be the reality we accept unless they specify otherwise.
the equalists were portrayed as a terrorist organization that eventually indiscriminately bombed the city, tied up and planned the cultural genocide of an already almost extinct population, and their leader was actually a bender filled with self-hatred due to childhood abuse
a lot of the oppressions listed here are vague and i could easily flip them around. pro-bending is a form of bender privilege? i could draw parallels to how gladiators fought for the entertainment of others and were by all means underprivileged, how this fictional sport barely paid, how mako had to get a second job that also revolved around bending (oh and btw: getting a job based on an innate talent is not the same as systemic privilege, a person who is able to lift weights will get a job at a construction site quicker than someone who can’t, a person who can shoot lightning out of his fingers will get a job at a powerplant over someone who can’t) and his second job also did not pay well
meanwhile, the nonbender the writers choose to introduce to us is asami, who is adored, invited to fancy galas, who’s father is the most successful man in the city, and despite being established as a good and kind person, hates the equalists and eventually turns on her own father because of it.
if the writers want us to think that nonbenders are oppressed, why write a character like asami? why wouldn’t they show any civilian nonbenders protesting (outside of the incidence with tarrlok, but the analogy of an oppressor marginalizing the oppressed falls apart again when tarrlok arrests mako and bolin with them and later admits to staging the entire event to bait korra - no sign or mention of a desire for ‘bender supremacy), why wouldn’t they have that homeless nonbending man talk about his oppression instead of telling the main cast that he lived with both homeless benders and nonbenders
why would they choose to show us gangs, who are units formed out of a lack of privilege so severe that it turns malignant? why would they make the equalists such *******s? it’s possible that the writers will choose to write about the nonbenders actually being oppressed next season, that is true. but as of now, it is not clear, and even if it were it’s not an issue relevant to the real world the way poverty is

[Hopeless]

You know after reading this thread and watching a couple of episodes I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if Korra and Asami got together instead...

Well it would have caught everybody by surprise!

[Fan]

You know after reading this thread and watching a couple of episodes I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if Korra and Asami got together instead...

Well it would have caught everybody by surprise!

It also makes little to no sense, neither of them share any interests (Sans racing, and being against the Anti Bending movement. Korra isn't exactly the scooter, and make up type of girl.), and neither showed any particular interest in series.

Keep in mind, I find the Mako relationship to be even worse, but replacing one shoe horn with a slightly less blatant shoehorned relationship makes no sense.

In my opinion, Korra didn't need a romance. She was a strong, competent character who had no issues approaching issues head on. If anything she'd need a more mellow partner in order to balance out her aggressive characteristics, not a fellow hot head.

[Scowling Dragon]

I said: the fact that bender gangs exist points to there being hardships as a bender in life.

No you didn't. You specificaly said that things where HARDER for benders then non-benders:

And that doesn't get into the fact that, socioeconomically speaking, the existence of bender gangs in the first place points to benders having it harder.

That was my ONE issue. If you just said "Hard" I wouldn't even blink.

[Kobold-Bard]

And then does she become DAH LAWGIVER, deciding who deserves their bending?

She's the Avatar. That is literally in her job description.