The Spirit World! Yay yay yay! This episode finally showed us what we've all been waiting for. We got to see the Spirit World. And let me tell you - it doesn't disappoint.
Korra and Jinora are in the Spirit World, when suddenly they get separated. Korra, now appearing as a little girl, is lost and scared when suddenly someone shows up to help out: Iroh! And no, not General Iroh. I mean actual Uncle Iroh. I was so excited to see him that I paused the episode and jumped up and down a few times, no joke. Iroh and Korra go and have a tea party with some of the other Spirits, and Iroh tells Korra that the Spirit World runs on emotions. When Korra is angry and in a bad place, the Spirit World becomes dark. However, she also carries the potential for sunlight within her. She leaves the tea party and confronts her fears, seeing some of the scarier Spirits for what they truly are.
Meanwhile, Jinora stumbles across a certain library that us Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will recognize. It was unbelievably awesome to see Wan Shi Tong's library again - and how dark is it that Professor Zei stayed there until death? We actually saw a skeleton! Ugh. Jinora is in awe of the library, and she uses it to research stuff about the Harmonic Convergence. Bad news, however, as Unalaq turns up, and our owl Spirit friend turns Jinora over to him. Even Jinora's little bunny Spirit friend turns on her! Oh no! Korra shows up to try and close the portal, but Unalaq is there, threatening Jinora. Of course Korra can't let Jinora die, but there's bad news - while Korra manages to escape the Spirit World with some help from a dragon, Jinora is still stuck inside!
What a freakin' fantastic episode. We had nothing of the Republic City plot in here this week, and it was not missed at all. It was a really smart idea to focus solely on the Spirit World and really give a chance for this world and the characters in it to stretch out and breathe. I'll make a quick list of things I loved.
- Iroh, of course. My goodness it was exciting to see him again. And it felt like a really fitting way to bring his character back into the story. It makes sense that he'd be spending his eternity hanging out with the Spirits, drinking tea and playing games. And he acted as a spiritual guide for the hot headed and often impulsive Korra, just as he did for the hot headed and often impulsive Zuko.
- The visuals. Wow. The Spirit World looks great. I don't even know what more to say, really. The conception of these designs is just awesome. There's this one moment where Korra takes this baby dragon bird thing back to its nest and then the three babies suddenly morph into one larger dragon. That is a really cool concept.
- Jinora. I am really loving this little girl. In the first season, I always wished we could spend more time with Tenzin's kids. They are the future of the Air Benders, after all. And Jinora is actually a very well developed character. I like how willing she is to help Korra, and also how easily she's taken in by this world. Her innocence and childlike excitement about the library really heightens the tension when we know she's in danger.
- Korra as a little girl. Not only was that cute as hell, it was also a perfect way to dive into her character. She was feeling lost and lonely and like she couldn't take care of anything by herself - in short, she was feeling like a child. And then she had to face her fears and she overcame them. However, she lost Jinora in the process.
- Tenzin's reaction at the end. I'm so excited to see where we go from here. He looked so scared! And Korra was so freaked out! And now I want Tenzin to finally make his way into the Spirit World for the first time, to save his daughter.
There were other things I could praise, but let me briefly discuss the two elements that weren't as good.
- Unalaq is just boring. Vaatu is interesting enough, but he's basically just an evil energy. In order for these two villains to be compelling, Unalaq needs a more interesting personality. His motives are hazy, his back story doesn't tell us anything about why he's so power hungry and evil... basically, I want more from our story's main villain.
- There were a few jokes that felt off to me. Particularly, when the owl Wan Shi Tong thought that a radio had a little tiny singing man in it. I just thought that joke broke through the texture of the episode. That's a nitpick, though.
Alright! Over all I am very pleased with this episode. It built wonderfully from the last one, and I'm eagerly awaiting what will happen next.
9/10
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