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Are there rules that limit the bending allowed in the arena? I'm tired of seeing the same water blasts over and over. Why aren't there any awesome imaginative battles like Katara vs Pakku? Octopus form? Utilizing ice? Steam? My fiancee pointed this out to me last night and I have to agree that the actual depiction of bending this season has been a bit lackluster.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 18:41 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 01:00 |
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The Hebug posted:Are there rules that limit the bending allowed in the arena? I'm tired of seeing the same water blasts over and over. Why aren't there any awesome imaginative battles like Katara vs Pakku? Octopus form? Utilizing ice? Steam? My fiancee pointed this out to me last night and I have to agree that the actual depiction of bending this season has been a bit lackluster. Yeah, there are limits. Earth benders can only make discs from the floor of the arena, water benders and fire benders can only do 1 second blasts, and no hooking or slamming like Korra did. I also think you may not be able to bend an opponent's attack back at them.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 18:45 |
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The Hebug posted:Are there rules that limit the bending allowed in the arena? I'm tired of seeing the same water blasts over and over. Why aren't there any awesome imaginative battles like Katara vs Pakku? Octopus form? Utilizing ice? Steam? My fiancee pointed this out to me last night and I have to agree that the actual depiction of bending this season has been a bit lackluster. We saw Korra try something more imaginative in this episode when she tripped a guy with a water tentacle. The referee penalized her for "unnecessary roughness".
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:00 |
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Regy Rusty posted:We saw Korra try something more imaginative in this episode when she tripped a guy with a water tentacle. The referee penalized her for "unnecessary roughness". I assumed the penalty was from putting them in a never-ending bouncing water fountain, not the trip itself.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:02 |
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Edit: ^ I'll unnecessary rough you up!Regy Rusty posted:We saw Korra try something more imaginative in this episode when she tripped a guy with a water tentacle. The referee penalized her for "unnecessary roughness". Can I get a GIF of that, incidentally?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:02 |
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It was both, they just nailed her for the UR. Also, Mako, it would seem, is being set up for a major fall. If Asami is an Equalist, it'd make for an excellent way to give Bolin and Mako stakes in the main plot. She originally is just using Mako to gather intel on the avatar, develops feelings for him. During the Finals Match, Amon crashes it and debends Mako. He's broken by this, and Korra, being a meat head, is not good support. Asami is there to catch him. Despite what happened, Mako begns to identify with Amon with their similar backstories. He joins the Equalists. Now Korra and Asami are at odds, and you have an interesting politically fueled love triangle (not just one fueled by teenage angst). And that's my wild speculation. I'm just not seeing how Bolin or Mako are gonna stay revelent after the Finals match without someone getting debended. Its not like they're very good at combat bending so they can teach Korra more about bending or have any stake in the revolution except as bystanders. Somethings gonna give.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:18 |
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Ha I just rewatched that scene, and I guess I completely missed the water slam the first time. Still, same point - there are definitely limits to what you're allowed to do.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:23 |
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blurry! posted:Despite what happened, Mako begns to identify with Amon with their similar backstories. He joins the Equalists. Now Korra and Asami are at odds, and you have an interesting politically fueled love triangle (not just one fueled by teenage angst). I'm with you up to here. I just can't see Mako joining the Equalists when they not only took his power, but aim to take his brothers and his friends (Korra) as well. I can see him sympathizing with them definitely, and passing this on to Korra by association, but not joining them. Also, if Asami really is an Equalist spy she's not really doing a very good job spying by the looks of it. At least, not on the Avatar. It's been noted that she goes to every pro-bending match, and one can assume with her kind of money she can wander around backstage, so it's possible she/her father have invested in pro-bending and she's there to scope out the pro-bending arena and set up something for Amon's plan next episode. Also, she could be spying out who best to target of the various teams.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:40 |
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I think one of the problems with this being such a tight series is that there are about a million things that could be going on, but we're just not having the onscreen hints and pointers which would allow us to actually put it together, instead nearly everything apart from bender privilege (which still isn't getting spelled out enough for some people) is just wild speculation.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 19:57 |
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BrianWilly posted:But what about the crimes that they already committed? That whole kidnap and lobotomy thing? Yeah, that raid scene was clearly meant to look brutal and dubiously legal, but at this point Amon's followers comprise a terrorist group openly threatening people over the radio. "In their basement minding their own business" is stretching it a bit. If I'm remembering correctly, the people training there looked like relatively normal people, not a terrifying paramilitary. The giant poster of Amon was a bit odd, but I suppose no stranger than a group of Obama campaigners having a big 'HOPE' poster in their meeting hall. Then again, I suppose Amon's ninjas must have normal lives when they're not terrifying benders. Hiding in plain sight and all that.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:06 |
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As far as I'm aware Obama isn't a terrorist that mutilates people and then crows about it on the radio. While it's not overwhelming or direct proof by any stretch, having huge posters of a revolutionary hanging from your walls while you train in his signature fighting style is pretty damning all the same.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:11 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:I think it was more the slamming him up and down.  Never-ending slam: 
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:12 |
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tsob posted:As far as I'm aware Obama isn't a terrorist that mutilates people and then crows about it on the radio.  
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:17 |
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What do you know? Nick put up episode 5 on its website, finally. Now to make good on my last post here and watch it again.Dylan McKay posted:Everyone keeps talking about the latest ep like it needs defending, but it seems like the reaction to it has been pretty positive. Well, personally, the worst Avatar episode is still better than the best of most everything else on TV and I imagine a lot of people might agree with that sentiment. Ultimately, I'm hoping this is going to turn into another episode, for me, like that-one-from-Book-3-that-we-aren't-supposed-to-talk-about-per-the-OP. Subsequent re-watches of said episode have mellowed out the bad I saw in it and made it into "OK, I get what's going on and I can appreciate it, despite any amount of groan-inducing." With any luck, I can watch The Spirit of Competition again and laugh considerably more this time around. 
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:18 |
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Jefepato posted:It would be an interesting place for her to suddenly make a breakthrough in actual airbending. The referees probably won't notice if she does it once or twice by accident/sudden discovery (since air's kinda invisible), but if she started just blatantly throwing airblasts across the ring, I think they'd catch on. It's not like they don't know what airbending is or that she's at least potentially capable of it. I could see her making a breakthrough, Tahno finds out, and takes a dive, insisting she Airbended to penalize the Fire Ferrets. Seems like the kind of shifty poo poo he'd do (he tried to get Korra to kick his rear end so her team would be DQ'd)
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:23 |
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Someone pointed out that Asami has a rather unexpected expression on her face after Korra thanks her for getting her dad to sponsor the Fire Ferrets. (Scene starts around 22:00 of the full episode at Nick.com) Could it be...guilt?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:27 |
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Could be related to the fact that the girl who wants to plow her boyfriend is doing her best to be nice and friendly. I like Asami I don't want her to secretly be a spy
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:30 |
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Fried Chicken posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TASeH7gBfQ The difference being that he's an elected government official targetting suspects in an on-going war and defending his actions, rather than boasting about them. He's also probably actually sorry about it (the civilian deaths I mean), unlike Amon, though of course I can only suppose that last part. I'm not American though, so I don't really know too much about Obama and certainly don't intend to look any further in to this or him simply to defend his actions on a message board and drag the thread to a lovely place. tsob fucked around with this message at May 7, 2012 around 20:43 |
| # ? May 7, 2012 20:30 |
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Classtoise posted:Could be related to the fact that the girl who wants to plow her boyfriend is doing her best to be nice and friendly. Yeah, but she praised Korra's performance immediately before Korra thanked her.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:35 |
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tsob posted:I'm with you up to here. I just can't see Mako joining the Equalists when they not only took his power, but aim to take his brothers and his friends (Korra) as well. I can see him sympathizing with them definitely, and passing this on to Korra by association, but not joining them. I'm more talking a hurt and emotionally confused ex-bender Mako falling through emotionally dense Korra's fingers into the hands of the Other Woman, who brings him into the Equalist path. He's lost and vulnerable, reaches out and Asami is there, not our Heroine. He's susceptible to Equalist propaganda, but of course he will be Brought Back at the Maximized Dramatic Impact by Korra, who redeems herself for a past failure and wins her man. Or, Mako can just get debended then sulk about it/work at a noodle stand and generally be boring forever.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:37 |
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Wildeyes posted:Yeah, but she praised Korra's performance immediately before Korra thanked her. She was just being nice, too! I like her don't make her evil come on 
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:38 |
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Double post
blurry! fucked around with this message at May 7, 2012 around 20:41 |
| # ? May 7, 2012 20:38 |
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Daktar posted:If I'm remembering correctly, the people training there looked like relatively normal people, not a terrifying paramilitary. The giant poster of Amon was a bit odd, but I suppose no stranger than a group of Obama campaigners having a big 'HOPE' poster in their meeting hall. But yeah, really though, what do people imagine that chi-blockers actually look like when they take off their uniforms? Orcs?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:39 |
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BrianWilly posted:But yeah, really though, what do people imagine that chi-blockers actually look like when they take off their uniforms? Orcs? They look like Asami. Nah I don't buy that theory at all.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:42 |
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Classtoise posted:Could be related to the fact that the girl who wants to plow her boyfriend is doing her best to be nice and friendly. I like her, admittedly at least partially because she's based on Lust, has a moped and wears driving googles, but I hope she is an equalist. I just want her to be one who believes in the cause and true bender/non-bender equality, rather than the man, maybe because she feels her dad has been screwed by benders or because he himself is an equalist. That way we could get more sympathetic character insights in to the reasons for why the equalists gained ground in the first place and just what their greivances are. The only thing I would hope is that she actually ran in to Mako by pure accident and has some genuine feelings for him, rather than that that's an act. I don't want her to ape Lust that much.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:44 |
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seravid posted:Never-ending slam: The rules made up for pro-bending stipulate that waterbenders can only draw water from the zone lines directly in front or behind their current zone. I'm no pro-bending expert but I thiiiiiiiink this maneuver is a tad bit illegal!
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| # ? May 7, 2012 20:48 |
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The only reason I really feel that the whole Asami spy thing is to maintain revelance of Bolin/Mako to the plot. There's one match left for pro bending, which is the bros' function thus far. Once PB is over, unless they are drawn into the only other plotline, they'd just disappear. Bolin is a fraidy cat, and Mako is a pragmatist who's main concern is keeping their heads down and protecting his brother. They aren't the type to join in just because they want to help Korra out. Also, they're two of the most predominant characters in a cast of about 15 important characters. They wouldn't exit stage left after half a season is sunk into their development. So what's to draw them in? Asami is a Perfect Girlfriend who just appears, solves their problems and stays out of the way, hardly providing even a foil to Korra. Its the simplest explanation, as far as we've seen. Narritively speaking, Asami has a significantly less than zero chance of being involved with the Equalists.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:05 |
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seravid posted:
Edit: Also Remember those green goggles Asami had? Foreshadowing!
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:06 |
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BrianWilly posted:The fact that the Equalists were training in civvies was a very clever decision by the creators of this show, to humanize them in a moment where the benders had to look the most aggressive and brutal. Obviously the answer is they never take off their uniforms. The Revolution doesn't sleep, why should they? 
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:09 |
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Bolin's crying and running away is wonderful? You know how in high school when you got rejected and you thought you totally handled it cool and dramatically? You actually looked like that. Yes, I'm talking to you.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:13 |
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Sergeant Hobo posted:Ultimately, I'm hoping this is going to turn into another episode, for me, like that-one-from-Book-3-that-we-aren't-supposed-to-talk-about-per-the-OP. Subsequent re-watches of said episode have mellowed out the bad I saw in it and made it into "OK, I get what's going on and I can appreciate it, despite any amount of groan-inducing." Well, this pretty much came to fruition. I wasn't entirely sure how to think about this episode Saturday, aside from the paranoid conspiracy of Bryan and Mike underwriting some kind of "Chill out" message to the fangirls (still get some kind of weird vibe about that but I digress). I think perhaps some of my initial discomfort came about because I was comparing it to The Boiling Rock. I still maintain that The Boiling Rock could have just as well been one episode but it was a whole two episodes in a 20 episode season that was running down the clock at that point, which forced a bunch of other things into an even smaller set of episodes. I think the same thing happened with The Spirit of Competition but even more so because this is only a 12 episode season and we're approaching the halfway point. This is assuming that the Amon/Equalist conflict is going to be resolved in the 12 episode first season but if that's not the case, then scratch the above. In a similar vein, I think I initially felt that some of the teen romance drama could have been done previously somewhere before this episode. It had felt totally pushed into this episode in a kind of "We have to have this somewhere so let's just put as much as possible over there" way. After seeing this episode again, I think it's alright after all. I can handle the teen romance and whatnot but it would help if it can be spread out as much as possible (and for Nick to cut out the Twilight shenanigans on Korra Nation). blurry! posted:So what's to draw them in? Asami is a Perfect Girlfriend who just appears, solves their problems and stays out of the way, hardly providing even a foil to Korra. Its the simplest explanation, as far as we've seen. Narritively speaking, Asami has a significantly less than zero chance of being involved with the Equalists. Makes sense, but the question then becomes did Mako have any kind of influence on Asami to make her go from full Amon loyalist to something less? As in, will she betray the cause at some point perhaps because she sees what Amon's endgame is? This reminds me: wasn't Asami supposed to be some kind of streetcar racer? Whatever happened to that?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:17 |
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seravid posted:She's using earth bending to get a good look at Bolin. Acebuckeye13 posted:Obviously the answer is they never take off their uniforms. The Revolution doesn't sleep, why should they?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:34 |
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BrianWilly posted:But what about the crimes that they already committed? That whole kidnap and lobotomy thing? Yeah, that raid scene was clearly meant to look brutal and dubiously legal, but at this point Amon's followers comprise a terrorist group openly threatening people over the radio. "In their basement minding their own business" is stretching it a bit. See, but the thing is we don't know if these guys were full on steampunk ninja Equalists or just random civvies trying to learn some bender-defense from possibly the only place that teaches it. Like Mako and Bolin did work with the TTTs, so are they full-fledged gangsters? Should they be arrested? De-bended? What about all the people who showed up at Amon's rally? Technically speaking, they showed support for the Equalists as they did something bad, but is the audience just as guilty for watching? Basically I think it depends on whether chi-block is itself illegal- if it is not, then anyone who learns from the Equalists could probably be considered a full member of their organization. If it is illegal then a)that shows a huge bender-nonbender power imbalance, and b)it's totally plausible that someone might want some defense against benders, and be forced to go the Equalists as the only option, without necessarily totally agreeing with them. Like imagine you're some non-bender who keeps getting roughed up by some fire-bender or something. Then some guy rolls up, a friend of a friend, and he's like, "hey man wanna learn how to defend your self non-lethally? come to this warehouse at night, it's a secret cuz the po-po don't like us non-benders." You're like, that's a little strange I guess but alright. Show up, and everyone's wearing masks, they've got this big poster of some guy on the wall, didn't you see him on the news? Whatever, they're teaching you good poo poo for cheap. You train for a while, and then that firebender comes at you, so you just block his arm, he's like "oh poo poo, better not mess with this guy anymore," and then he's all good in an hour. So you're like, these Equalists are pretty cool, so you go train some more, and the teachers are like, "hey if you like this poo poo you should come check out some of our rallies, Amon's a great guy and he made this possible," and you're like, "well might as well". Go to some rallies, and yeah, this guy makes some sense, loving benders right? Then your chi-blocking teacher's like, "good job man, you've got some promise. Tell you what, I can teach you some advanced techniques, but you gotta prove yoself first. Take these goggles and this sweet ninja suit. You know how to ride a bike? Take these keys. Instructions will be given en route. Good luck". So yeah, I forogot the point I was making...?
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:39 |
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Korra is totally in character to sleep in her clothes, though. She probably never washes her socks, just stores em in those ugg boots of hers! Also Re: Asami's job as an Equalist spy. When she first meets Korra, she says "Mako's told me so much about you!" If she is a spy, she's doing a good job. Gathering intel from a willing source close to the target, and maintaining a low profile and earning a position of trust. blurry! fucked around with this message at May 7, 2012 around 21:51 |
| # ? May 7, 2012 21:41 |
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Korra herself fought two Equalists in mask and uniform at the compound/hideout. And more were shown being taken away in the aftermath.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:43 |
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blurry! posted:The only reason I really feel that the whole Asami spy thing is to maintain revelance of Bolin/Mako to the plot. There's one match left for pro bending, which is the bros' function thus far. Once PB is over, unless they are drawn into the only other plotline, they'd just disappear. Bolin is a fraidy cat, and Mako is a pragmatist who's main concern is keeping their heads down and protecting his brother. They aren't the type to join in just because they want to help Korra out. Also, they're two of the most predominant characters in a cast of about 15 important characters. They wouldn't exit stage left after half a season is sunk into their development. I can't rule out the Asami spy thing, but I don't think it's necessary for them to become relevant. Even if Asami is no more than she appears, Bolin and Mako have become close friends of Korra and a significant part of her life, as well as her main window into what life is actually like in the city. They know people, they know how things work in a way that Tenzin likely doesn't from his council seat and his island monastery. They're the only people she knows who know poverty and hardship, in a series incorporating class struggle as a theme. The way the tournament and aftermath wraps up could have a lot of ways to get them invested in what happens to their friend and to the city: they already have landed in trouble with the Equalists and consider themselves indebted to Korra for her help. Even with them being talented athletes but not combatants, they're still quite capable benders used to thinking on their feet, and a couple of training scenes and a little implied passage of time would justify them being at least useful allies in real fights. It isn't like Katara didn't advance rapidly once she had useful instruction to build on her self-taught fundamentals. Mako and Bolin are pretty predominant characters in this, and it's already past the point of "those guys she plays sports with." Even if the tournament ends without Equalist interference and Asami is never seen after this episode, it takes no real stretch to make them involved in what comes next.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:46 |
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Paracelsus posted:Actually, he isn't. Clearly, Capt. Swag is a Foggy Swamp waterbender who's trying a bit too hard to cover up his roots. Oh good, I'm not the only one who had this thought. When he was going in for the match with the other Wolfbats, I saw his blue sash and realized he was a waterbender, but he looks like a vampire compared to Korra, Katara, Sokka, and every other waterbender...except the swamp dudes! Would be sweet if he was and his parents were there at the final match in nothing but leaves because pants are an illusion and he'd be all like "YOU GUYS ARE SO EMBARRASSING!" Classtoise posted:
How? She's literally nothing. Her and Mako both are like Mai -- or at least how Mai was until the second to last episode of TLA. There are a few factoids about them that make up their "characters," but there is no real substance there yet to like or dislike. I hope she is a spy. That would be awesome, even if it was a bitch move. Like how you never actually disliked Azula because she was actually really badass and had some pretty good quips.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 21:57 |
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Sergeant Hobo posted:This reminds me: wasn't Asami supposed to be some kind of streetcar racer? Whatever happened to that? If that particular detail is going to have an importance in the series, it will be after the pro-bending tournament. No sense in having two big sports events occurring at the same time in the same city, after all. I could see it become another 'distraction' after the pro-bending season is over.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 22:04 |
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I could see her as a spy (didn't some of the early character spoilers play up her martial arts prowess?) or just caught by surprise if her dad ends up as a major money and technology backer for the Equalists.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 22:11 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 01:00 |
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blurry! posted:I'm more talking a hurt and emotionally confused ex-bender Mako falling through emotionally dense Korra's fingers into the hands of the Other Woman, who brings him into the Equalist path. He's lost and vulnerable, reaches out and Asami is there, not our Heroine. He's susceptible to Equalist propaganda, but of course he will be Brought Back at the Maximized Dramatic Impact by Korra, who redeems herself for a past failure and wins her man.
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| # ? May 7, 2012 22:20 |
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