The Legend of Korra: Beyond the Wilds (4x09)

I'm so proud of Korra. I know that's a weird thing to say. But I am! I'm so happy for her and I'm proud of how much she's grown over the years. Let's look at the plot of this one.

In Republic City, the world leaders are having a meeting about Kuvira. While President Raiko and Lin Beifong want to go on the offensive, Fire Lord Izumi and Tenzin refuse to back their play. Prince Wu is there too, but he's not much help. Bolin and Varrick show up and tell everybody about Kuvira's plans to weaponize Spirit Vines. Even so, the counsel decides to go on the defensive instead of attacking Kuvira right out. Korra is insulted that she wasn't invited to the meeting, and she thinks that nobody believes in her anymore.

One of the Air Benders is giving a tour of the Spirit Wilds, when suddenly a Spirit Vine seems to kidnap all of the tourists. Jinora, investigating what happened, is also taken. Korra is able to tap in to the Spirit Energy to see what Kuvira is up to, and she, along with Mako, finds the captured victims. She thinks maybe if she meditates and goes into the Spirit World, she will be able to get them out. However, she finds herself unable to get into the Spirit World, still haunted as she is by memories of Zaheer.

Korra realizes that she needs to face Zaheer once and for all, to move past what happened to her. Tenzin is hesitant to allow this, but Korra persists. Face to face with Zaheer, Korra seems completely overwhelmed by her fear. Zaheer tells her that she can't move past what happened to her until she accepts it as part of her life. Zaheer then helps Korra to meditate into the Spirit World, helping her past her trauma. Korra is able to save Jinora and the others, and she regains faith in her own ability to do good.

In a subplot, Bolin tries to win Opal's forgiveness. She doesn't seem willing to hear him, though. Opal and Lin plan on going on a secret mission to rescue their family from Kuvira, and as Bolin asks Opal if there's anything he can do to make it up to her, Opal asks Bolin to come along on the mission.

If I were to complain, it would just be to say that we haven't seen Kuvira in quite some time. What with the clip show last week and then this episode, things seem to be really slowing down after such an action-packed first half of the season. I guess there's no real problem with that, but I'm afraid that Kuvira will lose her momentum as a villain if she's kept out of things for too long.

However, despite this, I think this was one of the best episodes all season. Let's talk about some of my favorite parts.

Fire Lord Izumi! Yeah, I know we only saw her for a few seconds, but whatever! Finally! I have been waiting and waiting for her. I love the fact that she seems to be a reactionary leader of the Fire Nation, in a sense. She's cautious about going to war. Which, let's be honest, is probably a good thing. It's interesting to have the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads in agreement for something, though. I like how history is certainly not repeating itself here. There might still be hardships, but there is real unity between the different nations and kingdoms now.

Yay! Bolin is back! And we got a hug between him, Mako, and Korra. I loved their little moment of reconciliation. Although part of me wishes Asami had been there too, so we could have had a full-on Team Avatar hug. In any case, I love how Bolin goes back to hug them a second time. Very sweet.

President Raiko needs help to figure out what's going on with Kuvira and these Spirit Weapons, so who does he call? Asami and Varrick! As he says, he needs the brightest minds on this. What I loved most about this conversation was that it was a non-Bending President Raiko speaking to the non-Bending Asami and Varrick. Whatever else happened with Amon, the world is certainly a lot more just when it comes to rights for non-Benders. That's fantastic. Of course, there's also the hilarious prospect of Asami and Varrick working together. Understandably, Asami is still a bit upset with Varrick. Varrick insists that it's all in the past. Good stuff!

I love how much Korra has grown since the start of this show. When Jinora and the others were in trouble, Mako went straight to a violent solution. Korra was the one to suggest something else. The scene between Korra and Zaheer was one of the creepiest things I've seen on this show. When you first see him, just hovering in the air, it's a real punch to the gut. You want him to be suffering, or at the very least you want him to seem less calm. The fact that he's the one to help Korra get over what he did to her is... well, it's a lot heavier than I would have expected for a kid's show.

There's a lot more I could say, but I think that's where I'll leave it for now. I'm so upset that this show is ending after this season! It's so brilliant!

9/10