The Legend of Korra: Long Live the Queen (3x10)

Yikes, things just got a bit... dark, there. I mean... I've heard theories about the nastier things that Air Benders can do, but this was... yikes. Let's talk about it, shall we?

Korra and Asami are being brought back to Ba Sing Se. They manage to stop the vessel carrying them, but it crashes in the desert. They work together with their captors to get it back in working order, but are impeded by a giant monster. Eventually, they get something in working order and make their way to the Misty Palms Oasis. Their erstwhile captors have become their allies, and they let them go.

Meanwhile, however, Bolin and Mako have been taken to the Earth Queen by the Red Lotus. They are imprisoned. Mako tries to encourage Bolin to Metal Bend, but he can't manage to do it. The Red Lotus have bequeathed these prisoners to the Earth Queen, but on the understanding that she will hand over the Avatar, once Korra arrives in the city. They explain that public opinion will turn against the Earth Queen if they learn she has Korra captive, so letting them take her is in the Queen's best interest. Also, if the Queen lets the Red Lotus take the Avatar, Zaheer will give her information about the missing Air Benders.

Zaheer overhears from the Earth Queen that Korra has escaped the Earth Kingdom soldiers, so decides to take matters into his own hands. Zaheer defeats the Earth Queen by... uh... Air Bending the Air out of her body and... suffocating... her? I mean, I guess we don't know for sure that she's dead, as they never say it point blank, but... I'm sort of assuming that's what went down.

In any case, the Red Lotus bring anarchy to Ba Sing Se. They open up the prisons and make a city-wide announcement that the city is free from the rule of their queen, and that Ba Sing Se again belongs to the people.

While all of this has been happening, Lin has been looking for Korra and the others. She meets up with Zuko and Tonraq at the Misty Palms Oasis, where Korra and Asami meet them at the end of the episode. They hear the news of the Earth Queen's... death? Insta-suffocation-of-creepiness? Convenient disappearance, in any case. Bolin and Mako have not been freed with the other prisoners, it seems. Zaheer wants to talk to them, to give them a message for Korra.

Yikes. Okay, well... do I have complaints?

Actually, yes. The whole plot in the desert was sort of slow. I'll talk in a second about how the story line afforded some really great character development and had great moments and some decent comedy, but overall, every time we went back to the desert scene, I was like... yeah, I get it. You're in a desert. You're trapped. There are more interesting things happening elsewhere! And then you've got Mako and Bolin, who also spend the whole episode trapped in a cell, just complaining and trying to get out. It was sort of... stagnated in a way.

But maybe I'm not being fair. This episode is setting up a lot of things for the final three of the season, and I can see that it's doing an amazing job.

For example, we see Asami's innovation and creative genius. I'm glad to see her come into her own for the first time pretty much all season, as I'm finally reminded why I liked her so much back in Season One. She actually had a purpose and was useful for once. I think this is a great reminder of how much of an impact she might have during the climax, even though she isn't a Bender.

I also liked the reminder that not every soldier working for the Earth Queen is automatically a bad guy, just like in ATLA, not every person from the Fire Nation was just an automatic baddie. These guys are just doing their jobs, and as they get to know Korra and Asami, they become sympathetic. That was a nice touch.

I really thought Bolin was going to unlock his Metal Bending inside the prison, and I'm extremely glad that they didn't go that route. I'd be okay with him figuring it out eventually, but I really want him to have to work for it. It's nice to give Bolin a goal that isn't centered around vaguely chasing after a girl. This is a skill he really wants to work on, and hopefully we continue to see him do so.

Lin was fantastic. I love how she just grimly soldiers on, trying to solve yet another problem and come to yet another solution. I loved the moment at the end where she just sort of gripes at Korra and Asami about ditching her, but you can tell she's not going to make a big thing out of it. Also, Zuko! Yay!

And now let's discuss what I think of creepy Air Bending death thing. I LOVE IT. It's so dark and scary and wonderfully disturbing. Not sure if it's suitable for the younger crowd, but I think it's fantastic. Everything I learn about Zaheer just makes him more and more of a threatening villain. This Red Lotus back story is really cool, but Zaheer himself is still something a mystery. Why was he so knowledgeable about Air Bending before getting the power itself? He seems to represent this darker side of the traditionally peaceful Bending style. The possibilities to do great harm with Air Bending are ones that I can't picture Aang ever seriously contemplating, but Zaheer? He goes for it, man.

So, going in to these final three episodes, I'm pretty excited. We've got a seriously bad villain, some innovative and imperfect heroes, and what I'm sure is going to be one hell of a climax. Even if this episode was a bit mellow and stagnant in some ways, it was still a good one. And hey, I'd love to know more about that giant desert monster thing. What was that?

7.5/10