I want to say upfront that for the most part, this was a pretty great finale to an overall pretty spectacular season. Knowing that there were going to be two seasons, I kind of expected the Amon story to play out over both seasons, with this one ending on some sort of downer (a la Book 2: Earth) or maybe with a resistance building in the underground. Instead the Amon storyline is brought to a close and done very well. Overall, this is not a bad thing, many series do season long arcs with one big bad, a problem arises in the final wrap up though.
It's painfully obvious now that this season was entirely planned out and possibly fairly far along before Nickelodeon decided to order a second season. That's the only explanation I can come up with to how everything works out super awesome in the last five minutes. Aang coming in to give Korra back her bending is one of the most blatant use of deus ex machina that I've ever seen. She was able to break her spiritual barrier because she was at her lowest point? Really, that's the only explanation we're going to get for that? Aang is able to restore her bending, and then she is able to do the same for Lin and we assume everyone else (maybe not the gangsters). Once Amon took away Korra's bending, I knew that she would eventually get it back, but I figured that it would take some time and there would be a process involved, not just crying at a cliff and spirit Aang shows up to save the day. And to top it all off, Korra and Mako are in love now! That's quite a leap from Korra's crush and Mako not being able to decide between her and Asami. I understand wanting to wrap things up at the end (especially if they thought this would be the end end), but if that's the case they should have planned out the episodes better so that the wrapup doesn't seem so rushed.
Those last five minutes aside, the rest of these two episodes were wonderful. We start of with Team Avatar hiding out in the underground portions of the city with the sparkling bush guy from the first episode. It's a nice bit of continuity that they would hook up with him after being removed from their home. General Iroh and the United Forces are on their way and things do not go well at all. Of course, things aren't going to be resolved in the first five minutes, but Bolin's right that it seems Hiroshi Sato always has some new evil weapon up his sleeve. In the Avatar universe he's now the inventor of the car, mecha tanks, sea mines, and planes. The whole attack sequence was put together very well, better than a few actual war movies I've seen. I especially liked the entrance of the planes, with us getting the view from Mako's telescope as they coming flying through the skyscrapers. It was a little funny that they were so meticulous about making sure we saw all the pilots bail out in parachutes. As if all the explosions occurring aren't killing people. I guess Nickelodeon feels the kiddies are safe if they don't see it actually happen, just implied. Maybe it was a compromise that if they don't show any death now they can do the big one later.
After the battle is when Iroh's voice started to bug me. I think it was a cool idea to get Dante Brasco to voice the grandson of his character, but the more he talked, more I just heard Zuko. He could have at least tried to change it up some, voice actors do it all the time. So they hatch a plan to take down the air base, but Korra decides that she needs to face Amon. That struck me as a little false, Korra has been learning to be more patient and to work as a team, but now she feels she has to face Amon by herself. The last time she did that, things went decidedly not well. It is a way for them to have a little "breakup" scene with Mako and Asami, but more importantly it's a way to get two of the characters to Tarrlok and the revelation of the titular skeletons.
Tarrlok and Amon are brothers and Yakone taught them both how to bloodbend without the full moon. Tarrlok's tale is a sad one with some rather horrific imagery, especially the bowing wolves. I can see the rage behind Noatak and how he would come to believe that bending is the source of all the world's problems given how he was taught to use his unique bending powers. What I'm not as sure as is how Tarrlok came to be driven to revenge as well. When he kidnapped Korra, he spoke of taking over the city through legitimate power and doing what his father couldn't. The kid in the story says explicitly that bloodbending is a horrible thing and he wouldn't want to do it to anyone. It could be he was just painting himself kinder as a child than he actually was. In any case, it's a great origin story of our big bad and ties in nicely to the flashbacks. It also explains how Amon could just walk through Tarrlok's bloodbending.
Korra has a plan now, to rid the Equalists of their leader by revealing him as a bender. My first thought was why would anyone believe her? I'm glad they went that way with it because it was a pretty flimsy plan. A plan that ultimately works, but only because they finally pushed him into desperation. That was never going to happen at the rally with all his supporters around. The reveal of Tenzin and his family was a nice gut punch and gave the story some needed urgency once the plan didn't work. It was nice to finally see behind Amon's mask, but sort of anticlimatic since we already knew who he is and that he wouldn't be removing the mask if he didn't have a fake scar. Meelo does get one final funny moment when he shouts, "prison break!"
Meanwhile, Iroh, Bolin, and Asami are taking out Hiroshi's air base and planes. Iroh's take down of the planes was all kinds of great. His use of firebending to propel himself through the air is what Buzz Lightyear would call "falling with style." Asami has a knock down drag out mecha tank fight with her father. I wish there was some more time to flesh out the family dynamics there, but Bolin hurtling in on Naga yelling that Hiroshi is a bad father pretty much sums it up.
Korra's final confrontation with Amon is my favorite part of the episode. Just the right amount of fear is imbued there. I was very surprised that Korra actual had her bending taken away, thinking that she was going to find some way out at the last second. I really like the idea that that is what finally unlocks her airbending. She's been able to bend the other three elements since she was a child. The fact that those came so naturally to her makes it even harder for her to grasp something that doesn't come naturally. When the crutch of those are taken away from her and she is truly desperate is when she can finally achieve airbending. Said airbending forces Amon to reveal his waterbending and lack of a facial scar, thereby saving the day.
Amon momentarily gets away with Tarrlok, and that brings us to one of the darkest things I think they've ever done on this show, murder-suicide. I have no idea how they were able to get that one past the Nickelodeon censors. It's a great moment, though. While it is dark, it's a redemptive moment for Tarrlok, even more so than his infodump to Korra and Mako. Noatak talks about wanting to get away with his brother, but how long before his antibending sentiments take over him again? And with his bloodbending, it's nearly impossible to stop him. Tarrlok does what he thinks needs to be done, and it almost seems Amon agrees with him. That tear before the explosion could be a tear of being reunited with his brother, but I think it's a tear of acceptance of what he can feel Tarrlok is about to do.
Then comes those last five minutes. Watching it again, there are moments which I do like there. The reveal of Aang is nicely handled. The swell of the original Avatar theme as Korra enters the Avatar State brings goosebumps. How much better would those moments have been if I had felt they had been earned, though, instead of a checklist of things that needed to happen before the end? And finally, the look on Bolin's face when Lin demonstrates her regained bending. All in all it was a great season. Some pacing issues at the end aside, I think most of my quibbles stem from the fact that I want to spend more time with these characters and in this world. Luckily for me, there's 14 episodes left (maybe more, depending on Nick); only no one knows when.
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