The Legend of Korra: The Ultimatum (3x11)

Ahhhhh! What?! Oh my. Ohhh kay. Let's just... uh. Plot.

Mako and Bolin are released from Zaheer's custody, and rush to go find Korra and the others. They have a message from Zaheer: Unless Korra turns herself over, Zaheer will kill the new Air Benders at the Northern Air Temple! Korra decides to try and find Zaheer in the Spirit World to hold him off, while the others keep trying to contact Tenzin at the Air Temple.

While in the Spirit World, Korra does not find Zaheer, but she does find Iroh. Korra feels alone because she can't talk to Aang or any of her other past lives. Iroh reminds her that Zuko and Aang were best friends, and that she could try going to him for advice. Korra does so, telling Zuko that she spoke to his uncle. Zuko tells her that Aang would have done anything he could to protect the Air Benders, but that he understood that he had a responsibility to the world, as the Avatar, not to give up.

Korra finally gets through to Tenzin to warn him about Zaheer, but she's too late! The Red Lotus have arrived! Tenzin sends Jinora and Kai with the rest of the Air Benders, telling them to escape to the flying bison and get away. Meanwhile, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi will hold off Zaheer, Ming-Hua, and Ghazan. However, P'Li uses her Combustion Bending to keep the Air Benders from escaping. Kai tries to distract her, and nearly falls to his death, but is saved by a baby bison in the end. Kya and Bumi are both thrown off a cliff by the Red Lotus, and Zaheer and his team back Tenzin into a corner, beating him thoroughly.

Yikes. Do I have complaints?

Oddly, while I loved the emotional poignancy of the scenes with Iroh and Zuko, I was a bit nonplussed about how little they seemed to tie in. If Korra had decided to give herself up, and then Zuko's advice changed her mind, I'd understand that. But here, it just seems like it was an excuse to give the fans of the show feels. Not that I'm really going to complain about Iroh and Zuko feels. But still.

I don't think I really even need to explain why this episode was awesome, do I?

Firstly, I loved Korra's character here. We see, once again, that she's all about action. The idea of being stuck somewhere, not fighting, drives her crazy, especially when she knows Tenzin and his family are in danger. She's gotten a lot wiser since Season One, but she still has that rash side of her. She wants to do something, and do it quickly.

It was fantastic to see Iroh again, despite the seeming lack of relevance to the plot. (As of yet. Maybe we can explore Korra's decisions more closely in the next episode). Zuko's face when Korra told him that she'd seen Iroh was so precious. I felt like crying. I could see young Zuko behind the lined face. Also, am I the only one who is utterly desperate to meet Zuko's daughter, the Fire Lord? I want to know her so badly! And who's her mother? Mae?

Most of the focus of the episode was at the Northern Air Temple, as it should have been. The awesome, creative fighting was completely captivating. I felt true and immediate fear for Tenzin, Kya, Bumi, Kai... It was all very exciting.

Seeing Aang's three children fighting together was something special, as they each took on one of the Red Lotus. That Lava Bending thing is really quite scary, but I like how Ghazan still Bends earth, too. And Ming-Hua's Water Bending is awesome - I love how she has the long streams of water, and she freezes just the tips, like the end of a sword, to try and cut Kya.

I honestly don't know what's going to happen - next week, we get the final two episodes of this season. Is Tenzin going to die?! A part of me can't believe they'd go that route, but they've done some pretty messed up stuff on this show, so I guess it's definitely possible. I'm hoping that Zuko, Lin, Korra, Mako, Bolin, Tonraq, and Asami all turn up to the Northern Air Temple in time to fight it out with Zaheer. This is going to be an epic finale.

9/10