The restoration of Korra's bending wasn't an example of deus ex machina.
Avatar: Legend of Korra
- Thread starter sophie
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aronnax
Let your spirit be free
How is it not?
Unsolvable problem - Korra's bending was gone.
Avatar Aang, the closest thing to a God in the Avatar universe, pops out of nowhere and restores her bending.
Status Quo restored.
Deus ex machina is a plot development that comes out of nowhere for no obvious reason, and generally resolves some sort of conflict. No foreshadowing, no connection to previous plot elements, nothing. It has virtually nothing to do with machines, unless we are confining the discussion to middle classical Athenian drama, and the presence of a "god" is not necessary either. Don't try to be glib, it doesn't work for you.
Aang is Korra's spirit guide, something we've known since, uh, ever. Energybending has been a thing since Sozin's Comet and the lion turtle. It was the logical, obvious resolution, not something straight out of left field.
sophie
Break My Heart
It did make sense within the universe (and it really fit in with the general Buddhist themeing/motif of both series), but I definitely thought it could have been pulled off a bit better. This was probably the most obvious example of the show not having enough episodes to tell their story adequately (alongside the Triads, but that's a post for another day). Bryke really like putting in big low points in season midpoints (such as in The Library/Desert in Book 2 and The Day of Black Sun in Book 3) and devoting the second half of the season to overcoming their setbacks and returning to magnificent glory at the end. You could tell Bryke wanted to set something like this up, but rather than devoting a half a season to overcoming setbacks they had to tack on 10 minutes at the end to resolve it. It was definitely disappointing and the viewer doesn't really get the sense of accomplishment. The resolution is there (the scene where Korra restores Lin's bending is very touching), but there just isn't any bite to it.
TheDanish
Prince
This pretty much sums up my thoughts and feelings. I really enjoyed the finale but the very end could have been done so much better if they'd had just one more episode.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
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The more I think about it, the more I begin to agree with you. I think that they should have split the episode right when Amon takes away Korra's bending. It would have given more time to flesh out the spiritual stuff at the end, they could have put in an epic airbender vs. waterbender battle between Amon and Korra (still leaving in Tarlocc's heroic suicide), and it would have left us with one hell of a cliffhanger between the two.
aronnax
Let your spirit be free
Previous elements were established but given the amount of time the writers devoted to Korra's weak connection with her spiritual side and making it as hopeless as ever, the ending of it was rushed, badly explained and made it's link between the preceding story and the end weak with the taste of DEM.
Twelve episodes, Korra could only connect with her spiritual side when she was unconscious or forced by confinement to think and in that view, only see flashbacks. Suddenly, "when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change" and boom Avatar Aang appears out of no where and just restores her bending. This is the same 'un-spiritual' Korra, who in her lowest, still airbends like she firebends. It's an unsatisfactory ten-second answer to a whole season's worth of build up and then now she has mastered the Avatar State too?
Deus ex machina.
Turquoiside
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A BS, unsatisfactory or unbelievable solution doesn't equal deus ex machina though. Airbending and the Avatar's spiritual connection to her past lives is an established part of the universe. Amon's form of removing bending involves bloodbending in some form, and at least we saw in the flashbacks that the Avatar State overcomes bloodbending. It's not too terrible a stretch to believe Korra would reconnect with her bending once she entered it, if only temporarily.
Just look at ATLA's finale for a real deus ex machina; the Lion-Turtle appears straight out of nowhere, and gives Aang a magical, new, perfect solution to his problem. Nothing like Aang appearing as we all expected him too and giving Korra a known and viable solution to her problems.
Just look at ATLA's finale for a real deus ex machina; the Lion-Turtle appears straight out of nowhere, and gives Aang a magical, new, perfect solution to his problem. Nothing like Aang appearing as we all expected him too and giving Korra a known and viable solution to her problems.
KaiserElectric
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I wouldn't even call ATLA's finale a deus ex-machina. The introduction of spirit-bending and other powers the avatar possessed were always hinted at, and the decision of whether or not to kill Ozai was an issue in the last few episodes, which tied in very well with spirit bending.
Turquoiside
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Just because we'd seen small hints that the Lion-Turtle and other powerful spiritual beings existing, just because we knew that there were plenty techniques in the Avatar World than we've been shown, doesn't mean the Lion-Turtle conveniently popping up and teaching Aang to remove bending wasn't "phoning it in". The fact that we had been presented the problem for the last couple of episodes is exactly what makes it a deus ex machina.
Tomorrow's Dawn
Heroes Never Die
How did I not find the Korra thread on CFC till now?
Glad to be here!
My favorite character, as evidenced by my avatar, is Asami of course.
Glad to be here!
My favorite character, as evidenced by my avatar, is Asami of course.
sophie
Break My Heart
I love Asami to death, but the picture you have of her...well, she doesn't really have the best expression.
That's putting it lightly.
:shiver:
Tomorrow's Dawn
Heroes Never Die
What's wrong with that expression? 
Slightly low-res?
Well, there's plenty of time to get another screencap.
Slightly low-res?Well, there's plenty of time to get another screencap.
TheDanish
Prince
Asami is easily the most competent member of the Krew, and actually one of the more developed characters of the show (though that's comparing her to people like Korra and Mako, who are less than developed).
I think Korra's pretty well-developed a character compared to the likes of Mako and Bolin. The whole thing was sort of in direct opposition to TLA in that sense. TLA's protagonist and main antagonist, Aang and Ozai, didn't really have the sort of developed personalities that Azula, Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Iroh did. Ozai was pretty much Just a Bad Dude, and Aang never really had serious flaws unless "being a nice guy" counts. ("Being a nice guy" turned into a superpower at the end of the series, so whatever.) In LoK, the protagonist and main antagonist have some of the best-developed characters, while a lot of the rest of the major characters don't.
Asami, in my opinion, didn't get nearly the sort of attention that she should have. After she joined the team andJohnny Gat her father ended up being an Equalist, she was kinda just relegated to a role of "Other Woman and Team Driver". She's had a lot of potential for being a multi-sided character, but none of the other potential facets got much development. Like Mako and Bolin, she's ended up looking a little flat. (Which is a shame, because I actually like her better than pretty much anybody except Lin and Jinora.)
Asami, in my opinion, didn't get nearly the sort of attention that she should have. After she joined the team and
TheDanish
Prince
I was pretty happy with how much development Asami did get, considering she was a secondary character. Dealing with both her father's actions and Mako's jerkbending... we as the viewers saw a lot of it through the animation and not through dialogue. The quality animation really showed with her. Of course, there could have been a lot more, but... eh. Maybe next season!
And concerning Korra:
And concerning Korra:
Spoiler :
Remember Aang's fight with Ozai? The last chakra wasn't unlocked by anything spiritual. He was closer to Katara than ever, and he definitely couldn't let her go. Arguably, his feelings about her were even more confused than they had been because of what happened on Ember Island. So he never really overcame that hurdle, either - and consequently got his ass handed to him by Ozai until a chance injury brought back the Avatar State. I don't know if there's a message there or not.
TheDanish
Prince
That's very true. I recall watching the ATLA finale (having only finished the whole series for the first time a couple months ago), and that chance injury was the one thing I didn't like.
I'm probably way too critical towards these shows. I really like them, though, and I thought the LoK finale was overall pretty good. The reason Korra's character irked me was because so much happened in the space of 12 episodes, and yet I didn't really get the impression she had changed.
But there's always season 2! According to Bolin's VA he gets his own arc, too, and I can't freaking wait.
Oh, before I forget: there was a rumor going around tumblr (based on someone who said they have an "inside source") that S2 might be coming as early as late September. I reeeeally hope it's true, but that just seems way too soon.
I'm probably way too critical towards these shows. I really like them, though, and I thought the LoK finale was overall pretty good. The reason Korra's character irked me was because so much happened in the space of 12 episodes, and yet I didn't really get the impression she had changed.
But there's always season 2! According to Bolin's VA he gets his own arc, too, and I can't freaking wait.
Oh, before I forget: there was a rumor going around tumblr (based on someone who said they have an "inside source") that S2 might be coming as early as late September. I reeeeally hope it's true, but that just seems way too soon.
Way to steal my thunder!
Her relegation is worse than that. She becomes the jealous girl in between the obvious railroaded relationship, the most annoying role in the most annoying subplot of the show. While all the important stuff is happening and they're running for their lives, she's still finding time to worry about whether Mako still LIKES her likes her.
It's really not fair, because a truly equal Asami-Korra duo without the weight of the relationship subplot would've been cool. They could have been rivals in other ways instead of for the affection of some guy.
