What Legend of Korra Does Better Than Avatar The Last Airbender
Its First Season
Pound for pound, when you compare the first seasons of Avatar The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, the latter was in a place where the creators had three seasons of Aang and company under their belts, so they came in with a much better knowledge of story structure and character development. Many won't argue that it took a few episodes for Avatar The Last Airbender to find its footing, with the opening episodes not necessarily having the same level of quality as some of the later episodes.
In the first season of Korra, the dynamic introduced with Amon, the leader of a rebellion that was looking to eliminate bending from the world entirely, presented a number of interesting mysteries and threatening antagonists that brought it up a level from the earlier adventures of Aang and company, before they reached the Water Temple that is.
prevnextAdult Situations
Throughout the four seasons of the Legend of Korra, the series really isn't afraid to take off the kid gloves. Characters are killed in some various horrific ways, with the deaths of Amon, the sovereign of the Earth Kingdom, and P'Li of the Red Lotus, the series knew when it was right to get rid of some characters and didn't hold back any punches. Using air bending to swipe the air from a victim's lungs, blowing up a ship in a glorious explosion, or straight up blowing up a villain's head, Legend of Korra took its story up a notch when it came to how some of their characters met their ends.
prevnextA Variety Of Villains And Motivations
The Fire Nation was first and foremost the main threat of Avatar The Last Airbender, giving us in-depth characters such as Zuko, Azula, and Ozai, to name a few, but Legend of Korra spent each season somewhat as a "one and done" situation where a new big threat was introduced, normally using the events of the previous season to help in establishing them. From Amon to Kuvira to Zaheer to Unalaq, each season was able to throw some unique threats Korra's way, also taking the opportunity to explore how characters would react to these antagonists.
Zaheer, to us, remains the best villain of the entirety of both Avatar and Korra, presenting us with an "evil" airbender that was able to use his bending in some astonishing and terrifying ways.
prevnextThe Innovation of Technology
As we mentioned previously, the first season of the Legend of Korra established a world wherein benders were common place, with those who didn't have the ability to manipulate the elements were placed into a lower class than those that could. With the Fire Nation, and Fire Lord Ozai specifically, their motivations were somewhat simplistic in their bid for world domination, but the forces of Amon were a little different. They essentially had started a "class war" within the first season of the Legend of Korra, presenting the latest Avatar with a unique problem that took more than simply being the best bender.
While the battle between technology and bending wasn't as prominent in the following seasons, the conflict present in season one was so original and thought provoking that it's hard not to see why it makes Legend of Korra surpass Avatar in this respect.
prevnextThe Fight Scenes
This is something of a cheat, because again the creators behind Avatar The Last Airbender had far more time to dive into the ideas behind bending, but the battles of Korra and her friends against the likes of Amon, Kuvira, and Zaheer far surpassed the stylized combat of the original series. With metal bending now being common place, as well as lava bending, air bending, and much more, battles were hot and heavy, making them not only giving them more impact, but also making them more creative.
Watching two masters of Earth bending fighting one another in the final season of Korra blew away a good percentage of the fights against the Fire Nation in the first series!
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