Avatar The Last Air Bender

[Morty]

I cannot stand Varrick in any season, personally. He's always annoying and in Season 2 he's also part of the political plot no one wanted or asked for. In Season 3 his role is minor, but that just means he only appears for the sake of "wacky" humor and nothing else. In Season 4 he actually suffers some consequences for his actions, Zhu Li tells him off and Asami twists his arm, plus his section in the slide show is hilarious. So he's probably at his best there, but I would still rather he never appeared at all.

[JadedDM]

Read that. I was pondering seeing it as people have been giving negative reviews about it. I have to finish Avatar first anyway. I'll probably give Korra a chance for an episode or two, make up my own mind.

Based on what I remember from your comments in the Dark Matter threads, I can pretty much guarantee you will hate Legend of Korra, passionately.

[Ramza00]

Apparently, Legend of Korra is coming to Netflix next month.

“The Legend of Korra” is coming to Netflix on August 14 and all of y'all gotta deal with it!

[Sivarias]

Ick. Legend of Korra.

[Pex]

Based on what I remember from your comments in the Dark Matter threads, I can pretty much guarantee you will hate Legend of Korra, passionately.

In what way? Is there a character like Three whom I'll like but everyone in the show beats him up?

Speaking of, the actor Anthony Lemke is well known on Canadian television. A few years before Dark Matter he was in the first and last season of The Listener, a Canadian show about a paramedic who can read thoughts to help capture criminals. I have been able to watch a number of episodes. It's a good show in its own right, but it was cool to see him again especially in a role where he gets respect.

[druid91]

I've never understood the dislike for Korra. Honestly, I actually like it more than the original, though it's a close contest.

[Peelee]

I've never understood the dislike for Korra. Honestly, I actually like it more than the original, though it's a close contest.

I'm nearly through season 3, I think. I'm still more or less enjoying it, but I can see the reasoning for those who didn't like it.

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The sudden technological shift was a massive worldchanger, and they explored it some in season 1, but more or less dropped it after; S2 went into the intro to movies a bit, but even that wasn't very well developed, and most of it was to give Bolin his own spotlight (which I'm all for, Team Bolin 100%). I really loved TLA's approach of showing how bending civilizations used their powers to emulate or replace facets of modern life, and LOK largely moves away from that. They also run full-bore into rare and special powers no longer being as rare and special as they once were - metalbending, for example, turns out to be something that what, 10% of earthbenders can do? Combustion bending is back, despite that being the weakest part of TLA IMO, and now we have lavabenders going on, which is earthbending because it's rocks but could also conceivably be waterbending because it's a fluid or fire bending (that one is much more of a stretch, I'll admit, but firebenders got lightning so why not).

And then, on top of that, from what I hear they only got each season pre-approved one by one so they couldn't rely on having a set number of episodes to tell an overarching and coherent story so they had to introduce an entirely new plotline for each season more or less starting the villain from scratch and trying to figure out new character arcs for your already-arced-characters to develop. Issues like that are why sequels based off properties that were intended to be standalones are famous for having a high rate of poorer quality.

[uncool]

Those are some reasons, but I think they're symptoms of deeper problems - problems that appear on a thematic level.

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One of the great things the original show did was attempt to show a deep connection between movement, action, instinct, thought, and philosophy. Iroh explained this at the start of season 2, but what he said was clearly deeply woven into how the writers wrote the entire world. Aang could only learn a new style by learning - and adapting - to a completely new philosophy; Zuko lost his bending - and then regained it - on the basis of a change of thought pattern.

Those connections were much weaker in Korra. The connection between the physical and mental sides was largely broken by the choice to mix all the styles with MMA. In the original series, if you removed the elements, I think the bending style would still generally be clear; in the new one, I doubt you could consistently identify a style without seeing the elements.

I think the connection between the philosophy and the rest was also broken; the most egregious example to me was Korra's airbending at the end of season 1. She suddenly airbends because she's desperate - not because she learned to avoid and misdirect rather than face head-on, the way an airbender would. And she promptly continues to demonstrate this with a direct air-punch and a kick that screams earthbender. She can airbend - not because she suddenly understand it, but because the universe granted it to her.

The "extreme" bending styles suffer in this way, too. Lightningbending is an extension of firebending - based on the strength of passion - tempered by cold calculation. Does that describe Mako to you? Metalbending is an extension of earthbending - based on the solidity of the group - mixed with the concept of leadership - "I (the impurities) go, the rest follow". Which I agree works for Kuvira, but not so well with nearly any of the other metalbenders we see. Bloodbending is an extension of waterbending - based on the fluidity of motion - that says that everything can be redirected. This is the one where the connection remains strongest - Yakone, Tarrlok, and Amon all work by subverting systems of power (the gangs, politics, and populism) - but personally, I didn't find the connection that convincing for Yakone and Tarrlok. Korra season 3 introduces a new "extreme" bending style: lavabending. What philosophy underlies the new style? What do Ghazan and Bolin hvae in common?

And this doesn't get started on the **** kaiju battle. Which I'd have to watch again to really analyze.

[Lethologica]

The quality of Legend of Korra is highly contested ground, which means that recommendations from others either way are even more suspect than usual.

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For what it's worth, the fading connection between bending and philosophy is clearly intentional and ties directly to the through-line of the show: what does it mean to be the Avatar, master of the elements and bringing balance to the world, in a world no longer organized around the philosophy of bending, which is indifferent if not hostile to the whole idea of an Avatar? That it's intentional doesn't necessarily make it a good choice, and it certainly isn't one which appeals to fans of the original show's philosophical bent, but it's not like they just forgot to add the philosophy.

The issue, as I see it, is that having dispensed with bending philosophy as an organizing principle, the writers never managed to decide what the new organizing principle of the show was going to be. They never answered the question. This is partly attributable to having to write seasonal plots one after another instead of a single overarching plot because of the show's troubled production. But regardless of the reason, Legend of Korra lacks a clear vision, and it shows up in every part of the story - characterization, pacing, worldbuilding, you name it.

(Also, I personally dislike a lot of the moment-to-moment dialogue and VA work, which is the proximate reason why I keep dropping the show a few episodes after trying to get back into it.)

[Razade]

The most fair thing that can be said about Legend of Korra is that it has a lot of cool concepts and it progresses the world building of the Avatar world to an early Industrial age which introduces some dynamics to the whole Mortal World/Spirit World overlap.

Korra is a departure from Aang in that she's headstrong and loud to cover a lot of deep, deep insecurities as she tries to live in Aang's shadow. The dude made a country and everyone (most everyone) adored him. It's a big shadow. It would have been really really good to have invested in that side of her, and they do somewhat but they never resolve it so she just remains angsty and through much of Season 3 is a sadsack and much of Season 4 happens because she's paralyzed by the same indecision she was in Seasons 1 and 2.

The supporting cast ranges from heartwarming (Aang's son and a few of his kids) to insanely annoying (Some of Aang's kids and grand kids and a whole bunch of the supporting cast).

The biggest flaw of Korra however is the direct, uninterrupted Executive Meddling and frankly sexist and homophobic decisions by Nickelodeon and that is neither hyperbole or guess work. The creators have been very very open about the process of making Korra in the years since it aired and how Nickelodeon handled the series. A few of the most blatant and easily google-able things.

- Korra's first season was cut to the length it is because Nickelodeon because, stated by Nickelodeon, they were unsure if children would be able to handle a female lead and when they asked for the creators to turn it into a male lead, and were told no, they retaliated in kind.

- Nickelodeon purposefully put it in poor time slots and did little to advertise leading up to the debut. We can't guess motive on this.

- Based on the other two things, they continued to keep Korra's seasons short citing poor view numbers. Such that Season 4 was entirely streamed on their terrible, terrible website.

- Asami was intended to be a villain but the creators liked her enough to keep her around. Nickelodeon mandated that (because Korra was a girl) she needed to have a love interest. The writers and creators from Season 2 intended it to be Asami. They feared that Nickelodeon would veto it hard. They were right, because when they did go asking, Nickelodeon told them they could only hold hands and they managed to wiggle out what we see in the actual finale.

[Anonymouswizard]

Korra also has some weird worldbuilding elements, including retconning of series lore (kind of) and some weird details that don't make sense.

Spoiler: Not anything plot important, but just in case

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As an example, in one scene we see Lightning benders zapping devices to generate electricity. All well and good, until you take a step back and think that you'd likely do just as well for less by building an actual generator with a turbine and using firebenders to just heat water and drive the turbine that way. Or using waterbenders to drive the turbine, but there's no need to get highly skilled workers in just to generate your electricity.

Then there's all the issues with pacing caused by behind the scenes executive disbelief, I'm fairly certain that the reason for Books 3 and 4 being better recieved is because they weren't designed as 20 episode seasons and cut down.

Then there's Book 2. This is either the worst season with a shockingly good two parter about halfway through, or a decent season with a two parter based around retconning lore. Basically some ideas are introduced but not properly explained as to how they fit in (and you can make them fit, but for some you need to extrapolate in a specific way).

[Rater202]

On that spoiler

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Firebenders were showing firebending into boilers in the classic series, in place of using coal, to power war machines.

It's been seventy years, Lightning Bending, firebending with a calm mind, is probably a lot easier if the Dancing Dragon Method, bending fire with positive emotions and feelings of light, as supplanted Sozins hate-based fire bending as the dominant style.

Either way, innovating the process of suing firebending as a source of industrial power was bound to happen.

Now consider that, unlike other benders who simply use their chi to manipulate an element, firebenders use their chi to generate an element.

Assuming that the existence of the chakras means that Chi works like in the general sense using in Taoism and Chinese Buddhism, that it's the cosmic energy that comes down from space and flows down the mountains into the world and nourishes everything else but can also be cultivated within a person then Chi is a renewable recourse...

But converting someone's chi directly into electricity and putting it straight into the powerlines would be much more efficient than using it as fire. Less of it would be lost as waste heat and there's be fewer transformations of the energy involved.

It's honestly a weird intersection of mystisicms and science, where you're applying thermodynamics to chi.

As for Retcons, the only things I can think of when they say that is

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Lionturltes as the Soruce of Bending but... It doesn't contradict anything.

when the Liontutrle shows up an explains bending, it was that "We" used to bend the energy within "ourselves." The Lionturtles was, presumably, speaking directly about it's own kind rather than bneders in general.

In the pre-avatar days, the Liontutrles would Energybend some bending into someone when they needed it and then take it back...

But then when they left there were no Benders other tan the current host of the Avatar Spirit...

But the capacity of Bending was still in some people, so they were able to learn from naturally occurring benders.

The Lion Turtle never said that humans all used to be Energybenders, we just assumed that's what it meant.

So, it's not a retcon, it's just the fandom's assumption being debunked.

[Anonymouswizard]

On the retconning.

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People normally have three areas of complaint: changing the origin of Bending, changing the nature of the Avatar State, and removing the Blue and Orange morality of the spirits.

On the first, the lion turtles are the origin of bending ability, but the original series gives us the origin of bending styles in its dialogue. This is shown by how all Wan and the soldiers can really do when giving firebending is to conjure and throw flames, it's not until Wan starts basing his movements on the flight of dragons that we get anything like the firebending seen in the rest of the show. Even when others have firebending for years they're never shown to most beyond the 'throwing fire' stage, but the proto-Air Nomads do seem to have progressed their bending slightly further due to their more spiritual nature.

On the second, both Wan and Series 3 Korra are shown to get a relatively minor boost from the Avatar State, at least compared to Aang. Sure the origin might not be Raava, but the power comes from exactly where people said it did, and very few people know about Raava and Vaatu at the beginning of the series because it's been millennia. We have what, Unalaq and maybe Tenzin among the main cast and for all we know that's it, Raava and Vaatu are basically a footnote in their religions.

On under third, it has to do with how Spirits in the story aren't shown as being that different to humans, but they're do still seem to have different priorities. Which I think is a plus to the story. Also with how Raava is portrayed as 'good' and Vaatu as 'evil', but think about it. If Vaatu wins humanity is gone by the next conflict, but if Raava wins humanity gets to live another 'ten thousand years'. It's not that Raava is good, it's that Vaatu is significantly worse, and Raava gets flattered by people in the know because you hope the good cosmic tapeworm will decide to leave you alone.

[Lord Raziere]

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I always thought that the Avatar State's power depended on your spirituality. your tapping into the innermost power of the Avatar, so it makes that when Aang does its something all powerful and incredibly potent because he is an incredibly spiritual person- in fact there was a whole episode about Aang's unwillingness to let go of his attachment to Katara holding his Avatar state back.

Korra in contrast, is incredibly connected to her attachments and the physical bending side of things. Wan wasn't really that much of a monk either, while many of the other Avatars we see would've had proper training for the spiritual side of their job, probably from the Air Monks themselves. all Korra had was a single family trying to piece together what they could while dealing with four different threats one after another, so she really didn't the proper training in what was normal and easy for Aang.

because half the point of Korra was showing how different another incarnation of the Avatar can be. you don't get Aang 2.0 with it. and in Korra's case you don't get any of the other Avatar before her either. every Avatar is unique for the time they grew up in.

[Morty]

As far as the Avatar State is concerned,

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what I think happened is that the Avatar State was Aang's endgame, which he used to kick Ozai's ass seven ways until Sunday and the only reason Ozai survived was because Aang wasn't willing to kill him. But Korra acquired it at the end of Season One. So they downplayed it to make it easier to physically challenge her. However we explain it in-universe, I feel like it's the ultimate reason.

For better or worse, LoK is a lot more ambitious than ATLA. The original show was pretty by the numbers, just executed exceptionally well. LoK tries new things... and doesn't always stick the landing. But I don't think it deservers all the criticism it gets.

[Rogar Demonblud]

To go back to something on page one, since I keep forgetting to reply.

The reason the Fire Nation went out and genocided the Air Nomads was an attempt to kill the next Avatar before they could grow to the point of being able to interfere. At the start of the series, it looks like they've progressed on to finding the Waterbender Avatar.

It is the nature of fire to consume until there's nothing left to burn, after all. Unless you keep it properly managed--good servant vs bad master, as it were.

[Ramza00]

As far as the Avatar State is concerned,

For better or worse, LoK is a lot more ambitious than ATLA. The original show was pretty by the numbers, just executed exceptionally well. LoK tries new things... and doesn't always stick the landing. But I don't think it deservers all the criticism it gets.

Yes.

This.

I am shocked that some peoples distaste of Korra is so one sided. Yes Korra did not stick the landed always but it did lots of good as well and the people who are "negative fans" (I think the term for this is anti-s) only talk about the things they do not like and never voice the things they did like about the show, even if the the things they did like are not exceptional and excellence but just good as in decent tv.

[Pex]

In Book Three. Just saw Sokka's Trainer. Opening scene, I couldn't help but think about all the Warrior/Spellcaster power disparity arguments we have here.

Good episode. Sokka gets his respect in earlier episodes, but here it's the point. I think the sword is a Chekov's Gun. That it's made from meteorite will mean something. It will be able to cut something that couldn't be cut that needs to be cut.

Curious if Zuko's affirmation of being Fire Nation and Iroh's capture was the story all along or necessary because of Mako's passing. I like how they are doing Iroh's story in prison. Being silent, not having a new voice actor yet, it feels like continuing the honor mourning. Maybe it's just my empathic perception. Maybe it's both. Either way it makes for good story.

[Rogar Demonblud]

For another series impacted by Mako's death, Samurai Jack. It's a little weird watching the two close together and going from cuddly Uncle Iroh to Shapeshifting Master of Evil Aku.

[Lethologica]

For better or worse, LoK is a lot more ambitious than ATLA. The original show was pretty by the numbers, just executed exceptionally well. LoK tries new things... and doesn't always stick the landing. But I don't think it deservers all the criticism it gets.

I think this should be contextualized a bit. ATLA had a straightforward base plot, but a cartoon getting to tell a serialized story over 60 episodes was no mean feat at the time, and it's reflected in how the show evolved from the mandated episodic adventures of season 1 to the more directed storytelling of later seasons. LoK also benefits from ATLA defining the setting's ground rules - and it's an ambitious setting! So I would say not to undersell the ambition of the original series.

[Peelee]

Unpopular opinion: Season 3 of LoK was the worst of the series so far. S4 seems promising from the first episode.

[Marillion]

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I think the connection between the philosophy and the rest was also broken; the most egregious example to me was Korra's airbending at the end of season 1. She suddenly airbends because she's desperate - not because she learned to avoid and misdirect rather than face head-on, the way an airbender would. And she promptly continues to demonstrate this with a direct air-punch and a kick that screams earthbender. She can airbend - not because she suddenly understand it, but because the universe granted it to her.

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The way I see it, Korra got airbending because she was finally free. She didn't need to learn how to evade and misdirect, she needed to learn to choose her own destiny. Air is the element of freedom, after all, and her entire life Korra had walked a path she thought she was expected to. From being young and embracing her newfound status because she'd grown up on stories about Aang, to spending her whole adolescence training, to becoming an adult and going to Republic City because the White Lotus decided it was time, she never really got a chance to work out for herself what being the Avatar meant to her. So when Amon took her bending away, she lost all the power that her identity was so wrapped up in. She had no idea what she was or what she was expected to do. In fact, everyone told her to stay away after she lost her bending. She was freed from all the pressure and expectations that she'd been tethered to. Even so, she decided that she was going to keep fighting against evil to save her friends. That's why she was finally able to airbend: she chose to keep fighting. She was free, and she still chose to be the Avatar for the first time in her life.

At least, that's what I think they were going for. It was fairly rushed though, would have liked to see it executed better.

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Korra season 3 introduces a new "extreme" bending style: lavabending. What philosophy underlies the new style? What do Ghazan and Bolin hvae in common?

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Remember back in the first season of ATLA, when Jeong Jeong said that fire was so much more dangerous than the other elements because a rock can't throw itself? Well, lava is what happens when the earth decides to move itself. Traditional earth-bending philosophy is essentially based on being more stubborn than the rock you're bending. This is fine when the rock is inert, but some people simply aren't headstrong or forceful in that way, and you'll notice that Bolin is both laid-back and a middling earthbender at best. Lava, on the other hand, is almost living the same way that fire is. It's certainly not something that you can easily overpower: Roku found this out the hard way when he challenged a volcano to an Agni Kai. Lava appears to move deceptively slow, but is unpredictable and nearly irresistible. It can't be commanded, only guided. I think it's relevant that both Ghazan and Bolin are fairly easy going, especially compared to your average earth-bender, and I think lava-bending represents how strong they are even though they may appear "soft" to other people who don't know them very well. It also represents their ability to stay calm and thrive under pressure, the same way that lava (well technically magma I suppose) is typically formed in the deepest parts of the earth.

Same disclaimer as above: I think that's what the writers were going for, but they didn't know how to show it very effectively in the time frame they had.

Bonus: A video demonstration of the martial art that Bolin's lava-bending forms are based off!

[uncool]

Spoiler: Korra season 1

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The way I see it, Korra got airbending because she was finally free. She didn't need to learn how to evade and misdirect, she needed to learn to choose her own destiny. Air is the element of freedom, after all, and her entire life Korra had walked a path she thought she was expected to. From being young and embracing her newfound status because she'd grown up on stories about Aang, to spending her whole adolescence training, to becoming an adult and going to Republic City because the White Lotus decided it was time, she never really got a chance to work out for herself what being the Avatar meant to her. So when Amon took her bending away, she lost all the power that her identity was so wrapped up in. She had no idea what she was or what she was expected to do. In fact, everyone told her to stay away after she lost her bending. She was freed from all the pressure and expectations that she'd been tethered to. Even so, she decided that she was going to keep fighting against evil to save her friends. That's why she was finally able to airbend: she chose to keep fighting. She was free, and she still chose to be the Avatar for the first time in her life.

At least, that's what I think they were going for. It was fairly rushed though, would have liked to see it executed better.

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I think you may be misremembering the show; there wasn't any time for people to tell her to stay away. She was de-bent in the last episode, and it happened minutes in-universe before she gained airbending - Korra gets de-bent, Mako shoots lightning at Amon, Mako tries to run away with Korra, Mako gets bloodbent again, and Korra hits Amon with airbending. She really never had time to experience that "freedom".

I can see some of the bits and pieces you're getting this from - Korra's nightmare early on mainly - but if that's what they were going for, then I honestly think they made some very questionable writing decisions. By de-bending her literally in the same episode she gained airbending, they gave no real time for that realization of freedom. I think that if that's the direction they wanted to go, they needed an episode or two actually showing her long-term reaction and internalization that she might never have that power - or that status - again.

That said, it is a good idea that might mix well with a rewrite of season 1 that I'm trying to write, where the depowering happens at the mid-season climax. Do you mind if I use it?

[Marillion]

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I think you may be misremembering the show; there wasn't any time for people to tell her to stay away. She was de-bent in the last episode, and it happened minutes in-universe before she gained airbending - Korra gets de-bent, Mako shoots lightning at Amon, Mako tries to run away with Korra, Mako gets bloodbent again, and Korra hits Amon with airbending. She really never had time to experience that "freedom".

I can see some of the bits and pieces you're getting this from - Korra's nightmare early on mainly - but if that's what they were going for, then I honestly think they made some very questionable writing decisions. By de-bending her literally in the same episode she gained airbending, they gave no real time for that realization of freedom. I think that if that's the direction they wanted to go, they needed an episode or two actually showing her long-term reaction and internalization that she might never have that power - or that status - again.

That said, it is a good idea that might mix well with a rewrite of season 1 that I'm trying to write, where the depowering happens at the mid-season climax. Do you mind if I use it?

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Oh dang, I could have sworn she spent a whole episode depowered before she got air-bending! But I haven't watched the series since it first came out, so clearly my memory isn't too reliable. That kinda does bork up my whole theory though, doesn't it?

I'm glad you like the idea though, feel free to use it if it works for you!

[hungrycrow]

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That said, it is a good idea that might mix well with a rewrite of season 1 that I'm trying to write, where the depowering happens at the mid-season climax. Do you mind if I use it?

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I'm glad I'm not the only person who wastes time thinking about how to fix 'almost good' shows.

[uncool]

Unpopular opinion: Season 3 of LoK was the worst of the series so far. S4 seems promising from the first episode.

I'd like to hear why you think so. I'm with approximately the rest of the internet, I think, in considering S2 by far the worst.

[Peelee]

I'd like to hear why you think so. I'm with approximately the rest of the internet, I think, in considering S2 by far the worst.

Zaheer was entirely uninteresting to me. He's the third iteration of "some guy just really wants to take down the Avatar and is also absolutely in position to be a threat to the Avatar isn't that just nice and convenient?" I couldn't get behind his motivation at all - he's supposed to be philosophically inclined but has goals and ideals that would charitably be described as childish at best, and more likely wildly naive and hypocritical.

Season 2 at least had mover-star-Bolin as a reason to keep watching. Season 3? Not so much.

[Morty]

I think this should be contextualized a bit. ATLA had a straightforward base plot, but a cartoon getting to tell a serialized story over 60 episodes was no mean feat at the time, and it's reflected in how the show evolved from the mandated episodic adventures of season 1 to the more directed storytelling of later seasons. LoK also benefits from ATLA defining the setting's ground rules - and it's an ambitious setting! So I would say not to undersell the ambition of the original series.

Perhaps so, but I don't think it really changes my point. My intention isn't to disparage ATLA but to illustrate why the shows are different.

Spoiler: Korra season 1

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At least, that's what I think they were going for. It was fairly rushed though, would have liked to see it executed better.

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I wouldn't read too deeply into this. I think it was more along the lines of Korra losing her bending and getting airbending being two items on the checklist before the credits rolled.

[hungrycrow]

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i feel like the flaws of season 3 were overshadowed by the fact that the show finally had consequences at the end.

[Anonymouswizard]

Zaheer was entirely uninteresting to me. He's the third iteration of "some guy just really wants to take down the Avatar and is also absolutely in position to be a threat to the Avatar isn't that just nice and convenient?" I couldn't get behind his motivation at all - he's supposed to be philosophically inclined but has goals and ideals that would charitably be described as childish at best, and more likely wildly naive and hypocritical.

Season 2 at least had mover-star-Bolin as a reason to keep watching. Season 3? Not so much.

I mean, in season 1 the going after the Avatar stuff was coincidental, and I'm going to spoiler the rest of this.

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Amon went after Korra because she was a Bender, her being the Avatar only mattered for the spin he could get ('even the spirits beleve I'm more right than the freaking bridge between the worlds'). He lets Korra go several times because he needs to depower her at the right moment for maximum impact. He's also possibly the most interesting villain, as the series spends a lot of time supporting the idea that he believes his ideals, and noticeably only ever bends to either take away others' bending or to save his life.

Unalaq wanted to kill Korra because he wanted to be the Avatar? Honestly I still don't quite get Season 2, but I'll agree Unalaq's goals made sense, become a Dark Avatar to try to bring the world back into balance, thinking that he deserves to be Avatar more than this unspiritual Korra, and all that stuff.

Zaheer's the first who truly focused on getting rid of the Avatar, but to be honest I'm still not sure why. Honestly it would have been better if Amon or Dark Avatar Unalaq had been the villain.

Kuvira was a good change of pace.