The Legend of Korra: Beginnings, Part 1/Part 2 (2x07/08)

I decided to put both parts of this under one review, because it really does tell a continuous story, and besides, the episodes aired on the same night. So... sorry about that, I guess I'm getting lazy.

This double episode takes us back into the ancient history of the Avatar, and explains how the first ever Avatar came to be. The framing device is this - Korra, completely ignorant of her identity, is sent to commune with the spirits and learn who she is once again. In the end, she remembers her identity as Avatar Korra.

So, here's the story. Wan is a boy who lives atop a Lion Turtle. He is poor, and often steals from the rich ruling family of the town (a bit like Aladdin, basically). In these ancient times, the people living on any given Lion Turtle believed that they were the only human inhabitants in existence. In order to travel out in the dangerous forest, where Spirits roam freely, the Lion Turtle grants the power of the element to individuals - to be used temporarily. Wan receives Fire Bending from the Lion Turtle, but when he enters the city without returning the gift, he is banished. While in the woods, he runs into Spirits, whom he eventually befriends despite the natural prejudices between humans and Spirits.

Several years later, Wan has mastered Fire Bending like no one else ever has. At this point, he meets two great Spirits who are fighting. Their names are Raava (the Spirit of Light) and Vaatu (the Spirit of Dark). Vaatu tricks Wan into helping him escape from Raava, at which point Raava tells him the awful truth: if she cannot control Vaatu, he will destroy the world!

Wan decides he must help undo the wrong he has done. Raava is hesitant to work with him, because Spirits do not think very kindly on humans. However, she hesitantly agrees, knowing that this may be her only way of winning her 10,000 year war against Vaatu. Wan and Raava travel to other Lion Turtles, and Wan is given the powers of Earth, Water, and Air Bending along with Fire, which he already has.

As time passes, Vaatu is getting stronger and stronger, and Raava is getting weaker. When Wan and Raava encounter a group of Spirits and humans fighting, Wan impresses everyone by controlling all of the elements. When Raava merges with him, his strength increases. However, they can only stay that way for so long, since Wan is greatly weakened by Raava's power. Ultimately, Wan cannot stop the fighting, and his human friends are killed.

Finally, the battle between Vaatu and Raava arrives. Wan fights bravely against Vaatu, but he is not strong enough to defeat him on his own. Raava enters into Wan once more, this time permanently bonding them together. Vaatu is defeated for the time being.

We then flash to Wan as an old man, who has spent his entire life trying to combat the forces of darkness represented by Vaatu. He is sad, because he is dying before his work is complete. Raava assures him that they will be together always, and when he dies, the reincarnation cycle of the Avatar officially begins.

Korra regains her memories, and learns that the next Harmonic Convergence is only weeks away, and she knows she needs to close the Spirit Portal before the forces of dark and light come together in their next battle.

Whew. There was a lot going on in this double episode. Essentially, it was a mini-series all of its own, utilizing none of the familiar characters from the normal show (other than Korra as a framing device), and thus telling us an original story.

There were things to love about this episode. For one, a lot of it was beautiful. The animation of the different Bending styles was really amazing, and we saw more creativity with Bending than we have this whole season. The backdrops and the designs of the Lion Turtles were also particularly stunning. The weakest point for me was honestly the animation for Vaatu and Raava, who looked more like giant glowing kites than anything else. However, overall the style of animation was very different from the usual fare, and it looked amazing.

The concepts in the story were also a big plus. The idea of having cities on Lion Turtles was really cool, as was the concept of having them deliver temporary Bending to individuals. It was a plausible origin story for Bending as it exists so much later. I also liked the tensions that arose from the animosity between Spirits and humans, because it matched up nicely with the tensions we have in Korra's story line right now, what with the recently opened Spirit Portal and Unalaq's powerful ability to control Spirits. I'm excited to see how this plays out.

But... the characterization of the episode seemed a bit clunky. First of all we've got Wan, who comes off rather bland, to be honest. He starts off as sort of the lovable rogue type, and then later is very serious and austere. We're supposed to believe that Raava is hesitant to work with him because he doesn't seem serious or trustworthy, but he doesn't really do anything to indicate that he might be.

The same problem arises again and again. Rather than exploring the moral ambiguity involved in stealing food in order to feed others, the ruling family of Wan's community is pretty much unambiguously evil, and we're meant to feel no sympathy for their characters. The Spirit characters that Wan meets in the woods were mostly just silly, and I can't tell you one defining characteristic that any of his human friends possessed. I will give mad props to the voice acting, however, which was flawless. I think the origin story as it stood was very good, and it could have been amazing, if only Wan had been a bit more of a fleshed out character.

So, in all, this double episode was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag. It tried to do something very ambitious in telling us the origin story of the Avatar, and it had some very good ideas in doing so. The plot for this episode was a thing of beauty. The animation was a thing of beauty. However, the characterization suffered. Maybe this project was ultimately a bit too ambitious to try and cover in a two episode arc.

7/10