The Legend of Korra, Book 5: It's canon. Deal with it.

[Reddish Mage]

Now that you mention it, I do remember reading some comics, but they were boring so I stopped caring about them.

Fine, I just don't believe that ATLA finale was as bad as you make it, I'm pretty sure they were foreshadowing Lion Turtles for quite some time. It's still an Ass Pull, albeit not completely unexpected - it's a kids show more or less, it's not going to end with Avatar murdering Ozai or Ozai just killing Avatar.

I refuse to accept that those were the options. Better to have Aang face a different quandary entirely.

For example: A major strength of team Avatar was that they were a team that cared about each other and worked well together. Why not have them overcome thierpetty differences and fight side by side to overcome Ozai? It would have worked a lot better if Aang + Zuko + Katara had to fight the fire lord to equal his comet-fueled strength. The bit with Toph and Sokka was the best part of the finale, and the White Lotus, the TEAM parts.

[Zevox]

Planning something and properly foreshadowing it in the story are two very different things. It was known that Lion-Turtles existed, but that's not really the same as expecting that one might show up and grant Aang energy-bending so he can depower Ozai.

Indeed. Even if you count the Library and a couple of statues as "foreshadowing" the Lion Turtle, it doesn't change anything. The Lion Turtle and Energybending are two different things, and the real problem is Energybending. It doesn't matter that much where Aang got the power from, it matters that it's a sudden new power that he gets in the last few minutes of the show, was never mentioned in any way before, and happens to be the perfect solution to his problem. It's a deus-ex-machina, and a thoroughly unnecessary one at that. They could instead simply have had Aang (or one of the others, even) figure out a way to effectively imprison Ozai. Perhaps something like they did with P'li in Legend of Korra, for instance.

Then at least the only ass-pull in that final fight would've been Aang suddenly getting back the ability to use the Avatar State due to hitting his back on a rock.

[Morty]

I don't mind energybending in principle. It's powerful and thematically appropriate. And in a world largely defined by bending, it reinforces the Avatar as a big deal by giving them the power to take it away. The problem is that it comes completely out of nowhere. No one even brings up the possibility of permanently removing someone's bending before Aang does it to Ozai. The only inkling we have that the flow of energy in a human body is something that can be manipulated was the Guru's lectures about chakras.

[Flickerdart]

I wouldn't have minded it too much, if they had built it up a little more. I think it should have come into play shortly before Aang decides he doesn't want to kill Ozai, so he's faced with a meaningful choice - kill Ozai or risk losing the contest of wills inherent to energybending. That way it's not "I don't want to kill him, oh, the solution dropped into my lap, let's just do it."

Alternatively, some kind of struggle that's more than just "lol glowing lights" would have been interesting, like the two being dragged into the Spirit Realm or something.

[-D-]

The Lion Turtle and Energybending are two different things, and the real problem is Energybending.

I thought Energybending was actually quite appropriate. The entire series revolves around the Ancient Greek concept of four classical elements. And anyone that knows the four elements know there is the fifth, quintessential element called aether that basically encompasses life/energy. So I'd actually say Energybending was is a way foreshadowed for the entire season.

It doesn't matter that much where Aang got the power from, it matters that it's a sudden new power that he gets in the last few minutes of the show, was never mentioned in any way before, and happens to be the perfect solution to his problem. It's a deus-ex-machina, and a thoroughly unnecessary one at that.

I agree it's Eleventh hour superpower and an AssPull, but it's not Deus Ex Machina. I'm not sure if Jinora was Deus Ex Machina, and that was way lamer. Because Deus Ex Machina resolves the situation on the spot, and doesn't require further arbitration by god.

I don't think it could have ended peacefully if there was another bender other than Aang around. They wanted Aang to deal with Ozai on the spot, so others wouldn't attempt to usurp the throne or something. Basically if X-bender and Avatar take down Ozai, other X-benders could claim X-benders killed/captured their lord and the war continues again.

[Zevox]

I thought Energybending was actually quite appropriate. The entire series revolves around the Ancient Greek concept of four classical elements. And anyone that knows the four elements know there is the fifth, quintessential element called aether that basically encompasses life/energy. So I'd actually say Energybending was is a way foreshadowed for the entire season.

Actually, that is incredibly uncommon knowledge. The four classical elements are very commonly used throughout fantasy stories of all sorts. Any sort of fifth element is not. So no, that is not in any way, shape, or form "foreshadowing" for anything.

I agree it's Eleventh hour superpower and an AssPull, but it's not Deus Ex Machina. I'm not sure if Jinora was Deus Ex Machina, and that was way lamer. Because Deus Ex Machina resolves the situation on the spot,

Which is exactly what Energybending and Jinora randomly being able to give Korra the power to defeat Unalaq/Vaatu did.

[Morty]

I'd still put energybending above Jinora, honestly. It gave Aang a rather specific power that fit in the context of the setting - it just came out of nowhere. Jinora... I'm not sure what the hell she actually did. She showed up, glowing, and gave Korra a power-up in her laser-duel with Unalaq.

On a side note, though, I think the term "Deus Ex Machina" is so overused as to be meaningless at this point.

[Metahuman1]

So, Pony thread has there resident British Lich doing a Let's Watch of Legend of Korra, form the beginning.

[Zevox]

I'd still put energybending above Jinora, honestly. It gave Aang a rather specific power that fit in the context of the setting - it just came out of nowhere. Jinora... I'm not sure what the hell she actually did. She showed up, glowing, and gave Korra a power-up in her laser-duel with Unalaq.

Yeah, the Korra season 2 finale is even worse than the TLA finale in that area. That's not really saying much for the TLA finale, though.

So, Pony thread has there resident British Lich doing a Let's Watch of Legend of Korra, form the beginning.

Just make sure somebody forewarns him about how it does get better after book 2. That thing's liable to make you want to give up on the show entirely. Did for me, and boy do I regret not catching books 3 and 4 when they aired now.

[Metahuman1]

About that, it's the oddest thing, he's 3 eps into season 2 now, Amon utterly enraged him and he found himself decrying him as just shy of being as bad as the final badguy form Naruto, and Evil Uncle is actually a villain he finds preferable to Amon. And I don't mean "The last ep ruined it for him." I mean "He didn't like him out the starting gate, and not in the good way for a villain."


He also rather likes that Korra has a hair-pin trigger and does not waste time and instead goes straight to "I'm gonna break his/her/it's face.".



Things I said weren't necessarily bad about the show he likes, and things I disliked about the show he hates. Funny that.

[John Cribati]

You do realize that Jinora's 'Deus Ex Machina' was just bringing Korra the teapot that Wan carried Raava around in when she got too small, right? The teapot that Iroh had at the table when Baby!Korra came to see him. Still doesn't explain why she went there instead of merging into Vaatu like she should have, but I guess you can say that it was for sentimental purposes or something.

[Metahuman1]

Or the argument could be made that Harmonic convergence hadn't quite finished yet so she could do that but if Jinora had waited another half hour or whatever the window of opportunity would have been closed.


And Iroh did say something about the pot having absorbed a chunk of her energy.

[Morty]

Yeah, the Korra season 2 finale is even worse than the TLA finale in that area. That's not really saying much for the TLA finale, though.

They're both better than Korra season 1 finale, though, as it resembles the end of an RPG campaign after the GM decided to wrap things up quickly because they had no time, ran out of inspiration or realized they hadn't thought it through.

You do realize that Jinora's 'Deus Ex Machina' was just bringing Korra the teapot that Wan carried Raava around in when she got too small, right? The teapot that Iroh had at the table when Baby!Korra came to see him. Still doesn't explain why she went there instead of merging into Vaatu like she should have, but I guess you can say that it was for sentimental purposes or something.

It was? As I remember it, she just sort of floated over to Giant Spirity Korra. It was such a barrage of sudden power-ups that I might have missed it.

[Zevox]

About that, it's the oddest thing, he's 3 eps into season 2 now, Amon utterly enraged him and he found himself decrying him as just shy of being as bad as the final badguy form Naruto, and Evil Uncle is actually a villain he finds preferable to Amon. And I don't mean "The last ep ruined it for him." I mean "He didn't like him out the starting gate, and not in the good way for a villain."


He also rather likes that Korra has a hair-pin trigger and does not waste time and instead goes straight to "I'm gonna break his/her/it's face.".



Things I said weren't necessarily bad about the show he likes, and things I disliked about the show he hates. Funny that.

Huh. Odd. Personally I wasn't a big fan of Amon even before the finale myself either, but I more felt that he was wasted potential than just bad all around.

Out of curiosity, is he entirely spoiler-free about the series? I might have to look up his reaction to the book 4 finale when he gets there if so. I'd be curious to see if he saw that coming or not.

They're both better than Korra season 1 finale, though, as it resembles the end of an RPG campaign after the GM decided to wrap things up quickly because they had no time, ran out of inspiration or realized they hadn't thought it through.

That's really bad too, but in completely different ways. Personally, I find myself more put off by the book 2 finale than the book 1. Yes, book 1's was absolutely rushed and did not resolve anything in a satisfying fashion, but I still find that slightly preferable to a deus-ex-machina resolution after a boring fight.

I will give book 2 slight credit for having a better resolution to the love triangle though, in that it ends for good there.

[Metahuman1]

He's like 99% spoiler free and in fact didn't want to post it here yet because he doesn't want to make us spoiler our discussions while he does a longish let's watch with breaks in-between. (He's doing it form the DVD's and some of those he hasn't gotten yet.)




One of his major complaints is that half the time Amon isn't actually shown doing anything, his plan went off off screen, and all we see is the final moment. (We don't see him kidnapping the triad bosses and beating there security, we don't see him figuring out were Korra is after evil counsel member took her in spite of the Republic city police having the jump on him, we don't see him capturing the Airbenders, we don't see 95% of his infiltration of the stadium, so on and so forth.)

If you wanna skim for his posts in Pony thread through the last 15 or so pages, everything he's posted so far on the matter is there. (He should be easy to find. He's the only Lich Avatar. )

[Zevox]

He's like 99% spoiler free and in fact didn't want to post it here yet because he doesn't want to make us spoiler our discussions while he does a longish let's watch with breaks in-between. (He's doing it form the DVD's and some of those he hasn't gotten yet.)

Ah, it'll be a while before he gets to book 4, then. That doesn't come out on DVD/Blu-Ray until next month. Though if he gets impatient the whole thing is readily available online.

I do wonder if that 1% spoiler includes Korra and Asami, given even I heard that the ending of the show was "controversial" despite not watching the show or paying any attention to threads about it at the time, even if I didn't find out why until a month later. (Also, if he ever clicked on this thread, well, I did put that image in the first post...)

One of his major complaints is that half the time Amon isn't actually shown doing anything, his plan went off off screen, and all we see is the final moment. (We don't see him kidnapping the triad bosses and beating there security, we don't see him figuring out were Korra is after evil counsel member took her in spite of the Republic city police having the jump on him, we don't see him capturing the Airbenders, we don't see 95% of his infiltration of the stadium, so on and so forth.)

All true. Amon is very much a "sit in the background" sort of villain for most of book 1. All the Korra villains except the Red Lotus are, really - though at least Kuvira gets her duel with Korra mid-season, and does her own threatening of pretty much anyone who defies her.

If you wanna skim for his posts in Pony thread through the last 15 or so pages, everything he's posted so far on the matter is there. (He should be easy to find. He's the only Lich Avatar. )

Oh, I know him, both from when I spent time in Pony thread and from the Gaming (Other) section. I just haven't touched Pony thread in years now - it's too full of discussions that don't interest me, so I found keeping up with it not worth the time it took.

[Morty]

That's really bad too, but in completely different ways. Personally, I find myself more put off by the book 2 finale than the book 1. Yes, book 1's was absolutely rushed and did not resolve anything in a satisfying fashion, but I still find that slightly preferable to a deus-ex-machina resolution after a boring fight.

I will give book 2 slight credit for having a better resolution to the love triangle though, in that it ends for good there.

It certainly is a different brand of badness, but I consider Book One's kind worse. ATLA finale and Book Two finale have problems with sudden, unexplained or just plain ridiculous power-ups, but they still qualify as such. LoK Book One finale is just hollow.

As far as the criticism of Amon as not doing anything on-screen goes, it's actually a fair point. It never bothered me that much, but I can see why it might bother someone. I think it may part of Book One's larger problem of basically ignoring its own central conflict.

[MLai]

As far as the criticism of Amon as not doing anything on-screen goes, it's actually a fair point. It never bothered me that much, but I can see why it might bother someone. I think it may part of Book One's larger problem of basically ignoring its own central conflict.

Season 01 had the most to cover outside of its central conflict: Korra's orientation to urban life, Korra finding love, Korra finding sports, Korra learning martial arts spirituality, Korra learning step 1 of How To Be Avatar...
And yet Season 01 got stuck with the most complex central conflict out of all the 4 seasons.
Hence there's no time left over for the "unimportant stuff" like y'know, credibly building up the antagonist and the forces at play.

I had said before that I agree that Season 01 should have just had no central conflict. Or, it could have had a simple central conflict that doesn't require too much, such as something equivalent to Season 03 except even simpler.

[Flickerdart]

I had said before that I agree that Season 01 should have just had no central conflict. Or, it could have had a simple central conflict that doesn't require too much, such as something equivalent to Season 03 except even simpler.

Why not just swap season 1 and 2 places? Season 1 hits, Korra deals with her spirituality nonsense by getting Unalaq to mentor her (and that plot line is wrapped up in as few episodes as possible), then in season 2 Amon fans the flames of "these benders are out of control, look what they did to the freakin' city." Korra learns airbending in the end just the same, with the side effect of a bunch of other people getting it too because of spirit reasons.

[MLai]

Why not just swap season 1 and 2 places? Season 1 hits, Korra deals with her spirituality nonsense by getting Unalaq to mentor her (and that plot line is wrapped up in as few episodes as possible), then in season 2 Amon fans the flames of "these benders are out of control, look what they did to the freakin' city." Korra learns airbending in the end just the same, with the side effect of a bunch of other people getting it too because of spirit reasons.

You mean put Raava-Vaatu-Wan into season 01? Wouldn't that make things worse?
Or do you mean no R-V-W, but still keep in Evil Invader Uncle? But that means there's going to be Water Tribe politics (kill teh judge!) and even more new characters (Bolin Fatal Attraction!) to keep track of in Season 01.

Basically, if season 02 was done correctly, it wouldn't be simple either.

[Flickerdart]

You mean put Raava-Vaatu-Wan into season 01? Wouldn't that make things worse?
Or do you mean no R-V-W, but still keep in Evil Invader Uncle? But that means there's going to be Water Tribe politics (kill teh judge!) and even more new characters (Bolin Fatal Attraction!) to keep track of in Season 01.

I'm imagining a lot of cuts to keep the pace tight - cut out all of the airbender children and Jinora's magic powers. Get rid of Wan, make Unalaq's motive "the new avatar is garbage and the people are no longer respecting the spirits, I'll make my own avatar using a like-minded spirit, and force them to respect spirits by force."

[Metahuman1]

Hell, you could take it a step further. Have Korra ditch the compound, and meet her uncle in republic city. Because her dad and uncle aren't on great terms (to put it mildly.) and the desire to keep her in the compound, she doesn't know he's her uncle at first when he starts "Bonding" (Read: Manipulating.) her. Things like interceding when Tenzin and Lin want to send her back to the south to cool her heels, stuff like that.

Hell, he could even point out that "You know, I can teach you how to get to the spirit world, and I can probably negotiate something with a knowledge spirit I know of to let you access his knowledge of Airbending. You could learn it that way and not need Tenzin. Just a thought."

This way we have Asami, Mako, Bolin and Varrick and Probending in Play earlier, and can have most of our Probending stuff happen early one when there's no revolution brewing just yet.

THEN watertribe politics can kick in, Korra can unlock past lives and evil uncle can tear up the city in the finally and the spirit world can be opened up in the finally. Korra can have Airbending in season 2, and keep the fact that she's got the Avatarstate working on the down low.


Heck, this even gives more time to blow through the love-whatever-angle and let Hiroshi Sato and the Triads be a big deal for a bit so that when Amon does his stuff it has more impact, and Korra and Asami have more time to develop into a thing.

And as an added kicker, Korra can actually have a rough plan of attack when she has her end game with Amon. Korra's engaging him, and using the Avatar State with Water and Airbending to just barely keep him from taking her bending, and wash's off his Makeup in the process, and in doing so, goads him into putting some serious bending on display and offing his lenient for being inconvenient. The catch? She had some of those Varrick Camera's being operated by Asami out of his field of vision, and she's got a big projector and Microphone broadcasting the fight form start to finish to the crowds, so they see and here everything. He's not defeating himself, he's being duped by the Avatar and a none bender friend. Ta-da, his credibility is shot. As an added benefit, Bumi can be shown as competent in maneuvering troops into position while there distracted by this, and by the time they realize anything's amiss other then there boss is lying hippocrit, it comes in the form of finding out there now out numbered, out positioned, and out gunned, so there surrender makes more sense.

Sure, Riko's still useless, but hey, he's so intrinsically bad at his job there's just no helping that.

[Morty]

I don't think swapping the two first seasons would have solved any problems, by itself. It would just result in a different plot being squeezed into way too tight a format. I mean, I'd much rather see the spirit shenanigans butchered by it than the Equalists, but that's just my personal preference. What it comes down to is that the first season, whichever story it were to tell, would need roughly twice as many episodes, so it could devote enough time to introductions and stage-setting in addition to its own plot. That, or a separate mini-season to do just that.

Also, one of Book Two's problems is not really unlike Book One's - context. Book One doesn't really portray the social issues that supposedly spawned the Equalist movement. Book Two, meanwhile, doesn't really explain just what the deal is with the Spirit World, and why it's so important that it's "balanced" with the physical one. Or what it means for them to be balanced, anyhow. If we were to put it into the "introductory" season, the spirits would be sidelined by the character introductions, rather than a staggeringly pointless political plot. Progress, I suppose?

Now, having said that, Amon's staying in the background and obscurity does serve a solid purpose. It makes him intimidating in his own way, and more importantly, makes him difficult for Korra to deal with the way she'd want. Still, even before his disaster in the finale, some more direct action involving either him or just the Equalists would have been great. Apart from the brief patrol in Ep8, Team Avatar is mostly left flailing around after the Equalists had already made a big mess, and their success tends to amount to getting away safely. Amon's being a bender would have ruined him no matter how many episodes his season had, of course.

The Red Lotus succeed where the Equalists failed, I think. In some ways, at least. They're a direct, physical threat, but they also fight dirty and only attack when Korra can't fight back or is at a disadvantage. If she'd gone into the Avatar state and fought them head-on, she would have wrecked them - I mean, she eventually does just that, and only loses to Zaheer because she's poisoned and he'd unlocked the secret of flight. So they do the obvious thing and only attack after paralysing her with shirshu poison or while she's meditating in the Spirit World. And then they kidnap the airbenders and Pema to force her to turn herself over.

[Zevox]

It certainly is a different brand of badness, but I consider Book One's kind worse. ATLA finale and Book Two finale have problems with sudden, unexplained or just plain ridiculous power-ups, but they still qualify as such. LoK Book One finale is just hollow.

I understand. Different tastes is all. I guess I find book one's less unpalatable for the meta reason that I can readily imagine why it wound up the way it did - the writers bit off more than they could chew and ran out of time to resolve everything in a better way, and at the time didn't know they'd have more seasons to work with. The ATLA and Korra book two finales I see less reasonable excuse for: they weren't put in a position where they needed to resolve things that way, they simply chose to, and any decent writer should know better.

I think it may part of Book One's larger problem of basically ignoring its own central conflict.

Never thought of it that way before, but that's a pretty spot-on observation. I guess that's part of why I never felt the Equalists made for good antagonists and were mostly a case of wasted potential even before the finale.

Season 01 had the most to cover outside of its central conflict: Korra's orientation to urban life, Korra finding love, Korra finding sports, Korra learning martial arts spirituality, Korra learning step 1 of How To Be Avatar...

Some of which could readily have been cut out in favor of more time for the plot and the other elements.

I had said before that I agree that Season 01 should have just had no central conflict.

Book 1 was originally written with the idea in mind that it would be the entire show - a 12-episode mini-series, as it was originally announced. It couldn't just have no central conflict and be all character setup, because that wouldn't make for much of a show on its own.

[Hatu]

Honestly, I think Amon was the perfect villain for Korra to face in season 1.

From a character point of view, Amon is the sort of villain who cannot be defeated by brute force. Since that's pretty much the only move in Korra's playbook, especially at first, that means he's a villain our hero must grow to defeat.

Second, while he's a potential threat to world balance - and thus the responsibility of the Avatar - the ability to remove bending from a person is what makes him most frightening, especially to a young Korra. So he's not just a designated antagonist; her fear of him is visceral.

And finally, he's just a brilliantly realized character. He's got a great, iconic look, a unique power, and an almost-sympathetic-but-still-terrifying agenda. Combine that with Steven Blum's voice acting, and Amon was an instant classic.

But from a viewer perspective, Amon was just as effective. First, we're kicking off the sequel series, and it's a very different world. One of the main things linking the world at the end of A:tLA and tLoK is bending. But in the past, benders were generally seen in relation to other benders. Amon, the Equalist leader, forces us to look instead at the relationship between benders as a whole and non-benders. We'd seen it implied with Sokka, and to a lesser extent in Zuko Alone. But now, we have a chance to bring this new aspect to the center stage, all while showing how the bending world has changed since the first series.

Second, Amon's spiritbending was the perfect chance to address the largest flaw in the A:tLA finale. While I'm semi-okay with Aang's last minute discovery of the technique, it really should have been foreshadowed. Well, if it's too late to foreshadow it, at least you can examine it retroactively.

Had Amon been a genuine spiritbender, we could not only have explored the nature of 'energybending' (and possibly the Lion Turtles), but we could have looked at the consequences to Aangs choice. To spare Ozai's life, Aang changed the fundamental rules of the universe. And the way it happened made sure everyone knew that.

The Legend of Korra was always going to be about exploring how Aang et al changed the world; what better way to start could there have been than exploring the desire to keep changing the world?

Now obviously, none of that happened. Pacing issues, poor writing, and an inability for reality to match my personal expectations all played a part. But I think the biggest problem was that Amon was never the villain he claimed to be. That's always going to sink the whole premise for me.

Still, the potential was clearly there. And that's why I think Book 1 is my favorite. It failed embarrassingly in the final lap, but it always felt (to me, at least) like it was trying to add something to the Avatar-verse. Books 3 and 4 are far better put together, but I feel like they didn't really have anything meaningful to say. They were content to entertain us for their running time.

For the most part they succeeded. But if I'd never seen those stories I wouldn't mind it. I might even be happier about it, mostly because I could shoot Book 2 in the head and dump it in a ditch! But if I'd never seen Book 1, I feel like I would have lost something, however imperfect.

But I suspect my opinion is a minority one.

-H

[Zevox]

I would agree with the broad strokes of that. Amon and the Equalists were a concept with a lot of potential, and an appropriate opponent for Korra as she was in book 1 - impatient, aggressive, and caught up in the idea that being the Avatar was all about just smashing whoever happened to be a threat with her awesome bending powers. Unfortunately, all of that went to waste in the face of weak execution, with so much focus wasted elsewhere on things like the love triangle or pro bending leaving too little for the actual plot, and then the ultimate resolution and what the truth behind Amon's facade turned out to be.

I do disagree with the relative assessments of books 3 and 4 by comparison to it, but I think I've reiterated my opinion there enough these past few weeks that I don't need to do so again.

[MLai]

Honestly, I think Amon was the perfect villain for Korra to face in season 1.

Still, the potential was clearly there. And that's why I think Book 1 is my favorite. It failed embarrassingly in the final lap, but it always felt (to me, at least) like it was trying to add something to the Avatar-verse. Books 3 and 4 are far better put together, but I feel like they didn't really have anything meaningful to say. They were content to entertain us for their running time.

For the most part they succeeded. But if I'd never seen those stories I wouldn't mind it. I might even be happier about it, mostly because I could shoot Book 2 in the head and dump it in a ditch! But if I'd never seen Book 1, I feel like I would have lost something, however imperfect.

I'd agree with that. Sure seasons 3 and 4 were better written. But one is about an anarchist-revolutionary villain and his rogue gallery, the second is about an imperialistic-fascist villain and her big mecha army. It's not as if we haven't seen those a dozen times each.

But a villain who is used as a vehicle to deconstruct a world of magic kung fu? A villain whose agenda a viewer could project onto and sympathize with (by default we're all non-benders)? A villain whose minions are us (supposedly)? A villain with a superpower that was used in the previous series as a "holy/ good/ paladin" power?

That had potential.

[dehro]

on an unrelated note..

[Hyena]

That had potential.

And then Amon was a bender. In fact, I've noticed that when I think about Amon and Noatok, I think of them as entirely different characters. I just don't think "bender" when I think about Amon. It just doesn't work for me.

[MLai]

on an unrelated note..

LOL cool. Thanks!
At first I was kind of embarrassed by the black lions, but then the white lion put up a decent showing.