The Legend of Korra: Book Four Review - IGN (original) (raw)

Warning: Full spoilers from The Legend of Korra: Book Four to follow.Watching The Legend of Korra's series finale last week was a bittersweet moment for me, as I'm sure it was for many of you. Having reviewed the show from the very beginning (almost three years ago now!), it's hard to believe the show's finally ended. But now that it has, I can safely say that Korra is one of my all-time favorite shows, even rivaling Avatar: The Last Airbender. Strong characters, compelling storylines, heartfelt humor, gorgeous animation -- this show had it all. That's not to mention the fantastic worldbuilding, which took Avatar's lore to new and exciting heights. In a word, The Legend of Korra was special.
But looking at Book Four, it was a bit odd -- I never really saw it as the last chapter in the series. To me, it felt more like an epilogue to Book Three (even though Book Three had ended on a huge cliffhanger). When talking about it, I described Book Four as kind of like the Appendices in Return of the King -- more of a postscript than its own thing. Here, we learned what the characters had been up to for the past three years, with a new threat emerging from the fall of Zaheer, and that all tied into the Avatar's return to prominence. In a nutshell, Book Four was all about setting things right. It was aftermath, resolution. An epilogue. At least, that's the way I saw it.Going off that, as an afterword, Book Four was pretty darn great. The overarching storyline -- Kuvira's Earth Empire campaign -- wasn't nearly as ambitious as Unalaq becoming the Dark Avatar, say, or Amon taking away peoples' bending, but it was still interesting. Admittedly, the season dragged in places, specifically "The Coronation," "Reunion" and, most notably, "Remembrances" (the clip show). However, in terms of theme, Book Four was spot-on. Allegories to war, dictatorship, PTSD, and weapons of mass destruction were all explored in Book Four -- much like egalitarianism in Book Three -- but they didn't ever feel biased or shoved down our throats. All the subject matter just clicked into place.

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There was also Kuvira herself, who was a great villain for Book Four. In a lot of ways, she was the complete opposite of Zaheer, striving to become a leader and savior for her people. She was a good match for Korra in that way, kind of two sides of the same coin. While the two of them rarely met face to face, the few scenes they did share were often highlights in Book Four. Their duel in "Battle of Zaofu," for example, was especially well done, including both stunning action and emotional content. Alas, I wouldn't say Kuvira was my favorite villain. When it came to her rationale, she was a little underdeveloped and one-dimensional -- not unlike Unalaq in Book Two. But as far as being a direct rival for Korra, she did not disappoint. (And let's not forget that silver tongue of hers!)
Other characters weren't featured quite as prominently in Book Four. Tenzin, Bumi, Kai, Lin, Opal and Kya (was Kya even there?) had pretty minors roles, at least compared to earlier seasons. They were mostly just backup for Team Avatar, ever present but usually silent. Granted, Lin and Opal got their moment to shine in the enjoyable "Operation Beifong," but otherwise the ancillary characters were just kind of there. Mako got a little more screen time, but it was usually at the behest of Prince Wu, whose own role in Book Four ended up being overblown and routinely annoying (although his final moments were pretty strong). Additionally, plotlines like Izumi's Fire Nation support (in "Beyond the Wilds") and Korra's human/spirit collaboration (in "Operation Beifong") were essentially dropped later on.

Conversely, Varrick, Zhu Li and Bolin were a constant source of entertainment in Book Four, especially as it pertained to Kuvira's campaign. And Tenzin's kids got a fun storyline in their surprisingly entertaining (and Avatar-like) mission. Comedically, Book Four was at the top of its game.

Of course, the rightful star of Book Four was Korra, whose emotional journey was the heart and soul of this season. Here, we saw Korra come to terms with what had happened to her in Book Three. This included a masterful and heart-wrenching episode, "Korra Alone," which brought all of Korra's doubts and insecurities to the fore. In this, she went toe to toe with her past self, a dark fragment of her psyche, which continued to haunt her throughout the season.This also brought about a gripping, Star Wars-like arc with Toph, who helped Korra find balance within herself. In the end, Book Four's greatest achievement was giving Korra room to develop and grow, even amidst the plot.

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Book Four also had the advantage of ending the series on its own terms, with a bold and action-packed finale. In addition to bringing the series to a fulfilling close, "The Last Stand" also left the door open for more adventures and new possibilities. That's in addition to those final few moments, which offered a sweet, romantic ending for Korra and Asami.

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Not only did this parallel Aang and Katara's last moment together in the original series, but it also hearkened back to the The Legend of Korra's core themes: change, balance, self-discovery and love. More importantly, it did what all good finales should do: make you want watch the series all over again -- which is exactly what I'm about to do right now.

Verdict

The Legend of Korra's fourth and final season was a great followup to the events in Book Three. By including a three-year time jump, Book Four was able to reshape the political landscape and offer all-new storylines for the main characters. The most notable of these was Korra's arc, as she came to terms with her PTSD and returned to prominence as the Avatar. While some characters were underutilized and several episodes dragged, the overarching story was solid, specifically in terms of theme and allegory. The two-part finale was also very strong and concluded the series in a beautiful and poignant way. [poilib element="accentDivider"]_Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN._[widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=More%20on%20Korra&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=korra-recirc&count=6&columnCount=6&theme=article"]