The Legend of Korra: Harmonic Convergence (2x12)

Lots of action in this one, and I’m thrilled. Seriously, after last week’s great display of Earth Bending from Bolin, I was worried they’d pull back again. Instead, they’re rushing full steam ahead into the finale, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Let’s take a look at the plot.

Korra and the gang all travel to the South, and they learn from Korra’s mother that Tonraq has been captured, and that Southern resistance to Unalaq is completely squashed. Tenzin brings the dying Jinora to Katara, who tries to help her. Jinora’s spirit has been out of her body for too long, and she won’t last much longer. Since Harmonic Convergence is swiftly approaching, Korra and the rest of them plan a daring attack in order to get to the spirit portal.

This attack is two pronged: Bolin, Mako, and Asami take a plane from Varrick’s ship, while Korra, Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin all ride a flying bison. However, things don’t go so well. At first, Asami flies the plane while Mako and Bolin do some awesome Bending and take out a lot of the Northern guards. Then, however, Desna and Eska take the plane down. The others fare similarly, and all of them are captured. All of them, that is, except for Bumi. He was thrown off of the bison earlier, and remains out of Northern hands.

Korra, Tenzin, Kya, Tonraq, Asami, Bolin, and Mako are all imprisoned, and they now learn Unalaq’s plan. He is going to merge with Vaatu and become a Dark Avatar, and take over the world. Desna and Eska are surprised and a bit disturbed to hear this, but when Unalaq leaves the prisoners under their guard, the twins refuse to betray their father. However, luckily it’s Bumi to the rescue! He causes a ruckus in the camp outside, as he gets a giant group of spirits to follow him and crashes in to the prisoner’s tent where the gang is being kept. Now that they’re freed, everyone rushes to the portal. Asami helps Tonraq, who has been badly injured, to get back to the healers and Korra’s mother.

The others all enter through the portal. Tenzin runs off to try and find Jinora, bringing Bumi and Kya with him. Bolin and Mako keep Unalaq away from Korra as she goes for the portal, attempting to close it before Convergence can occur. However, she’s too late. Vaatu goes free, and Convergence happens, spreading over the entire world.

So, yeah. That’s a lot of stuff. And a lot of great action took place in this. I’m gonna list a few of the more annoying elements, and then I’ll get to my list of good things, which should be considerably longer.

1. There were a few jokes that didn't quite hit the mark. For example, Bolin, while acting like a total bad ass on the plane, makes a joke about wishing that Varrick were filming this. Now, in light of what Varrick has done, I just didn't think it worked to have a joke like that. Bolin is a funny guy, but it did not fit with the gravity of the moment.

2. The love triangle. Again, it feels unbalanced. In this one, Bolin tells Mako that he should just get it over with and tell Korra about the breakup and about Asami. However, Korra is so focused on the upcoming fight that he can’t bring himself to do it. I just hate that they even included this as a plot element, much less that they’re drawing it out.

3. When they get into the spirit world, I can’t help but notice that Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin all run off and leave three kids to take on Unalaq. Like, wouldn't it have made more sense if one or two of them had gone off to find Jinora, while someone stayed behind? Maybe a master Water Bender like Kya, who could have helped hold off Unalaq? Maybe I’m being picky, but it seems like they didn't need three adults to find Jinora, and that they could have used all the help they could get to deal with Unalaq.

But now that that’s out of the way, let’s list the great things about this episode. Because wow. I was just stunned the whole way through with the amazingness of some of this stuff.

1. The action. I know I already praised this, but there was just a lot of good Bending this week, and I’m so happy about it. The attack from the airplane was epic. Bolin and Mako are both such bad asses. The twins also have such a cool way of Water Bending, and their creepy synchronicity works very nicely with their already unsettling characters. Mako and Bolin’s Bending against Unalaq was cool too. I just love the way they worked together – Bolin Earth Bended under Mako to catapult him into the air so he could Fire Bend forward. That was awesome. (One question… maybe I missed this, but how were they able to Bend in the spirit world? My friend has told me that it has to do with the fact that they went through the portal. In that way, they’re actually physically there, not just their spirits... but I’m not entirely clear on that). Also, all of the Water Bending that Unalaq was doing was so cool, with the freezing effect that he uses. Damn.

2. Asami! She didn't have much to do, but I’m glad to see that the non-Benders are getting to be awesome too. She flew that plane like a boss, and the fearless way she jumps into these situations is really admirable.

3. Speaking of non-Benders, Bumi was awesome. When he fell off the bison, I was worried that they were just getting a useless non-Bender out of the way for an awesome Bending scene to follow, but no. In fact, he saves the rest of them. In many obvious ways, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi echo Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I’m happy to see that much like Sokka in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bumi is legitimately helpful in his own way, even if he doesn't have any Bending. The scene where he used his flute to draw the Spirits to him was really funny. I enjoyed that quite a bit.

4. Things are really bad! It’s always smart to end an episode so close to the finale with doom and gloom and all things bad. Now that Vaatu’s free, things are getting worse and worse, and it’s making me very excited for what’s coming next.

5. Katara! This is sort of a given, but it’s always thrilling to see someone from the old show. They've done a good job of not overplaying these cards, but with still giving us our doses of familiarity. I like that Katara is known for being the best at healing. I’m also really worried about Jinora, but in Katara’s hands I think she’ll be able to hold on a bit longer.

I could keep going, but I think you all get the point. This was a very strong episode, and it makes me very excited about moving forward into the final two.

8/10