Legend of Korra Recap: Welcome to Republic City/A Leaf in the Wind

Legend of Korra is currently airing on Nickelodeon.

Welcome to Republic City!

In a sentence or so: We meet the next Avatar and discover she's a badass chick from the southern water tribe who sucks at air bending. She follows the child of the previous Avatar to teach her how to master air bending and discovers that Republic City isn't the dream of peace and balance Avatar Aang had in mind.

She sucks at air bending. This makes her mad.

What went down: Korra is pretty kickass at bending water, earth, and fire already. She's stubborn, plucky, sarcastic and smart. I love her a whole helluva lot. She's not all "listen bitches, I'm the Avatar so BOW DOWN", but she certainly knows she is the most powerful bender in the whole dang world. She is confident, not cocky. I repeat, I love her. She also has a rad polar-bear dog that she rides around all HBIC style.

We start to hear the murmurings that things aren't all rainbows and sunshine in Republic City, the capitol of the nations. There is a growing division between benders (those who can manipulate the natural elements of air, earth, wind and fire) and those who can't bend. There are some who say that the benders are oppressing the non-benders. I have to agree when Korra stops a bending mafia from roughing up a storefront.

Why it matters: Korra is on a journey to find her own damn way, damn it. This is SO YA Literatureiffic. She is flawed, yet we root for her.

Class conflict, y'all! Benders are basically supreme because they can, you know, BEND THE ELEMENTS. This causes strife. Strife causes conflict. Conflict resolution requires heroes. You see where I'm going with this.

Mysterious resistance man is mysterious.

Quote of the episode: "So, do you live in that bush?"

Closing thoughts: This is an amazing premiere episode. We learn so much about what's going on in the world we've left behind from Avatar Aang and gang. But if you're just tuning in for the first time, you're totally caught up and aware of what's going down. Nicely done, writers.

A Leaf in the Wind

In a sentence or so: Korra continues to suck at air bending, mostly because she's stubborn. After sneaking out to a pro-bending match, she meets some unlikely new teachers - happy-go-lucky Bolin and his brooding brother Mako. 

What went down: Tenzin, Korra's air bending teacher, tries to teach her. It fails. She gets all frustrated because she can't meditate and she can't calm her mind and she can't let the wind guide her through this super easy puzzle that the 4 year old air benders have already mastered. Feeling all sorts of angsty, she decides to sneak out and watch a professional bending match.

Professional bending is badass.

She is caught almost immediately upon sneaking in to the match, but her avatar ass is saved by a lighthearted boy who turns out to be one of the professional benders. She meets his teammates, who are anything BUT warm to her, but she stick around anyway because she does what she wants. Korra volunteers herself for the next match when one of their teammates bails on them, and ends up getting busted by Tenzin. Thankfully, she also makes a breakthrough with airbending so it's all cool in the end.

Why it matters: We meet the angsty and supremely AMAZING love interest Mako. Yeah, they are playing it pretty subtle for now but we ALL KNOW that this is going to happen. There is some PG bow chicka bow wow in their near future. I mean for realz, check this kid? I know it's weird to say he's sexy because he is animated AND a teenager...but whatever. It's still true.

It's okay. You can admit Mako is hot.

Korra is making it known that she's in Republic City, so the non-bender division is starting to get riled up. My life will be easier once I know what this resistance calls themselves. No doubt it is something awesome. I mean seriously, the leader wears this V mask. So you know they have their shit together.

Quote of the episode: "You're the avatar. And I'm an idiot."

Closing thoughts: Something I ADORE about this show is the balance of Serious Problems and Self Discovery with slapstick and silly humor. In one frame we see a snot bubble blowing out of a toddler's nose and in the very next scene we have a "I HATE YOU" match between Korra and Tenzin. The episode wraps up nicely with Korra admitting her flaws and making everyone love her more. The roller coaster of emotions is just so dang real and authentic and fantastic to be a part of. 

What were you most excited about from the premiere? 

Any predictions for the show?

Let me know!