Legend Of Korra Creators Confirm Finale’s Implications

In two separate blog posts, The Legend of Korra creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have confirmed the subtext many picked up on in the series finale episode is indeed accurate.

The remainder of the post will contain SPOILERS for the two-part season finale of Legend of Korra.

DiMartino and Konietzko confirmed that The Legend of Korra‘s final scene is the beginning of a romantic relationship between Korra and Asami, thus making Korra a rare instance of a queer or bisexual lead character in an animated, all-ages television series.

In a post titled “Korrasami Confirmed” on his blog, DiMartino confirmed that the subtext of the episode’s final scene – where Korra and Asami join hands and stare into each other’s eyes before venturing into the Spirit World – was entirely intentional:

Our intention with the last scene was to make it as clear as possible that yes, Korra and Asami have romantic feelings for each other. The moment where they enter the spirit portal symbolizes their evolution from being friends to being a couple. Many news outlets, bloggers, and fans picked up on this and didn’t find it ambiguous. For the most part, it seems like the point of the scene was understood and additional commentary wasn’t really needed from Bryan or me. But in case people were still questioning what happened in the last scene, I wanted to make a clear verbal statement to complement the show’s visual one. I get that not everyone will be happy with the way that the show ended. Rarely does a series finale of any show satisfy that show’s fans, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the positive articles and posts I’ve seen about Korra’s finale.

In his own blog post, titled “Korrasami is canon,” Konietzko explains his feelings about the relationship:

You can celebrate it, embrace it, accept it, get over it, or whatever you feel the need to do, but there is no denying it. That is the official story. We received some wonderful press in the wake of the series finale at the end of last week, and just about every piece I read got it right: Korra and Asami fell in love. Were they friends? Yes, and they still are, but they also grew to have romantic feelings for each other…

…We approached the network and while they were supportive there was a limit to how far we could go with it, as just about every article I read accurately deduced. It was originally written in the script over a year ago that Korra and Asami held hands as they walked into the spirit portal. We went back and forth on it in the storyboards, but later in the retake process I staged a revision where they turned towards each other, clasping both hands in a reverential manner, in a direct reference to Varrick and Zhu Li’s nuptial pose from a few minutes prior. We asked Jeremy Zuckerman to make the music tender and romantic, and he fulfilled the assignment with a sublime score. I think the entire last two-minute sequence with Korra and Asami turned out beautiful, and again, it is a resolution of which I am very proud. I love how their relationship arc took its time, through kindness and caring. If it seems out of the blue to you, I think a second viewing of the last two seasons would show that perhaps you were looking at it only through a hetero lens.

Was it a slam-dunk victory for queer representation? I think it falls short of that, but hopefully it is a somewhat significant inching forward.

Both blog posts are worth reading in their entirety, particularly Koneitzko’s, which is the longer of the two and dives into the creators’ relationship with the shipping community, how Hayao Miyazaki partly inspired the Korrasami decision, and how he feels about certain criticisms of the decision.