'The Legend of Korra': How villains of the series pushed Korra to become the best Avatar yet
The villain in a hero's story is often as important to the tale as the hero itself. 'The Legend of Korra' has been blessed with not just one, but four great villains that define each season, making Korra's story a truly legendary one indeed. We take a look at the series' villains and how they not only define the season that they feature in, but also how they define Korra herself and why they're the best villains in the 'Avatar' franchise.
In Season 4, while training with Toph (Philece Sampler/Kate Higgins), Korra (Janet Varney) is asked whether or not her former foes had something to teach her. It's a unique question that's been posed to her, as most heroes are meant to fiercely oppose the motives of every villain they come across. Toph, however, points out that Amon (Steve Blum) fought for equality, while Vaatu (Jonathan Adams) led to the reunification of spirits and humanity. Zaheer (Henry Rollins) fought to bring freedom to the oppressed. All of these are worthy goals, and Toph does not fault the villains for their ideals - only for the fact that they were so out of balance, they tried to bring these goals about in the most destructive way possible.
It's an important lesson for Korra, in her journey to become the Avatar, a leader of people that brings balance to the world. Her villains rose up out of frustrations about imbalance and showed her the worst possible way to see those goals accomplished. Each villain, by doing things wrong, showed Korra that there was a better way to achieve those same goals, while at the same time calling attention to those goals in the first place, once that might have been completely overlooked by the Avatar.
This brings us to how Korra dealt with Kuvira (Zelda Williams) in season four. Kuvira is another important figure who brought about an important revolution, but went about it the wrong way. Kuvira sought to reunite the Earth Kingdom after it was destabilized by the Red Lotus. And she also sought to bring the Earth Kingdom forward into a new era, one that rejected the conventional monarchy that for so long oppressed the middle classes.
Though there was a fierce battle between Korra and Kuvira, ultimately, Korra learned that the best way to stop Kuvira was not to beat her into submission, but to understand Kuvira's point of view. When the series began, Korra was a hothead, dealing with her fears by challenging them directly, much in the way she called Amon out for a one-on-one battle. By the series end, however, she has matured enough to move past her fears, to see past the masks of intimidation that her enemies put on.
What's compelling about the villains in 'The Legend of Korra' is that each of them are trying to save the world. The causes they fight for are worthy ones, making Korra's opposition to them morally complicated. Avatar Aang's (Zach Tyler Eisen) major villain was, in contrast, relatively clear cut. Firelord Ozai (Mark Hamill) wanted to see every kingdom subjugated under his rule, and wiped out the entire Air Nomad people to stop the Avatar from rising. Korra's villains challenged her on that front a lot more and she grew to be a better Avatar because of it.
All episodes of 'The Legend of Korra' are available to stream on Netflix.
