By Charlyne Nguyen
Warning: This article may contain spoilers for “Avatar: The Last Airbender” or “The Legend of Korra.”
With Netflix’s runoff of “Avatar: the Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra” in the limelight once more, opinions of Avatars Aang and Korra are clashing with each other once again—nearly six years after the season finale of “The Legend of Korra.”
Many seem to favor Aang over Korra even after all these years. Could it be because Aang was the first Avatar who emerged over a decade ago and won countless people’s hearts with his charm and gentle nature?
Aang had to master all the elements in order to defeat Fire Lord Ozai in a span of one summer. That may not seem so bad considering how Fire Lord Ozai was only a firebender, right? Aang was already an airbending master too.
However, Sozin’s Comet was also arriving at the end of the summer, prompting a time of fear and destruction that gave the Fire Nation the extra kick boost of fire in order to wipe anything or anyone in their way from conquering the entire world. Yikes!
So, what makes Avatar Korra so special?
Korra made the spirit world accessible to humans.
Since the beginning of the Avatar Cycle, the humans and the spirits didn’t necessarily get along. Spirits thought humans messed with everything spiritual, and humans were afraid of exploring the spirit world because those who chose to didn’t come back looking the same.
Despite realizing that opening the Northern and Southern spirit portals would free Vaatu, Korra was able to defeat him and, at the same time, usher in a new era where humans and spirits can walk amongst each other.
When the first Avatar (Avatar Wan) closed off both the portals, this caused a disconnect of both spirits and humans despite their two worlds being so close.
When Korra allowed the two portals to stay open, this proved to be a very wise decision because many problems would’ve been harder to overcome without spiritual guidance–one of them being when a spirit helped guide Korra to where Toph Beifong was staying. This proved to be invaluable to helping Korra take out the last bits of mercury still trapped within her body in season four.K
Korra brought back the Air Nomads.
Even though opening both the spirit portals ended up causing much destruction in the hands of Vaatu, it also made much good emerge.
Not only did it allow spirits to roam the earth, but it also created a rift that ultimately brought back the Air Nomads.
By opening the spirit portals and allowing Harmonic Convergence to unfold, Korra was able to bring back a once extinct civilization back into a world that had hardly any airbenders—Tenzin’s family being the only ones at first. Korra brought them back from the ashes of the once ruthless Fire Nation.
This fulfilled Avatar Aang’s dream beyond comparison. If he had lived to see the day his people came back, all the regret he had for leaving his people in their time of need would have vanquished, and he would’ve been at peace with himself at last.
Korra had way more threatening enemies.
In “The Legend of Korra,” Korra always had a new major villain. It wasn’t like Aang where he had to wait for the ominous inevitable to come. Every issue just popped out of nowhere.
She faced off with villains who threatened to take away her powers–something thought to be an Avatar-exclusive ability which turned out to not be the case. Korra was also threatened twice with the issue of losing the Avatar State and being the last light Avatar. She also had to defeat a villain who wanted the entire Earth Kingdom under their control; and if anyone stood in their way, there was the threat of being spirit-energy-blasted to dust.
In the end of each threat, Korra defeated all of her enemies; and at the end of the series, she ended up proving to the world that she is the powerful Avatar everyone could count on to protect them–even if it meant taking on a huge energy blast on her own.
The first Avatar to be able to metalbend.
The Avatar is widely known for being the only one who could bend all four elements. This may be the case, but with the ever-evolving world around them, sometimes certain special bending didn’t come along with being the Avatar.
This was the case with Avatar Aang. Unlike his friend Toph, Aang wasn’t able to bend metal. This doesn’t make him any less special–especially given the fact that he could energybend.
However, in Korra’s case, her ability to metalbend proved to be a valuable asset in combat situations and when she had to bend the mercury poison out of her body.
If Aang was in the same situation Korra was in with mercury threatening the existence of the Avatar State, he would’ve had to rely on Toph, which proved to be a painful experience when Toph tried bending the poison out of Korra.
This is why Korra had to remove the poison out herself. In doing this, Korra also let go of her fears and accepted all the horrible things that had happened to her. This made her come to peace with herself.
Her character development is inspiring.
At the beginning of the series, Korra was impatient and reckless. She couldn’t wait to be the Avatar; and yes, this could be a good thing, but this also opened up opportunities for her to also be reckless and impatient at times.
Korra went as far as to disobey her father and left the Southern Water Tribe to go to Republic City against her father and Tenzin’s wishes.
Her drive to be the greatest Avatar and connect with the spirit world even caused her to leave Tenzin in order for Unalaq her new teacher.
This might have proven to be invaluable in the long-run for Korra when dealing with dark spirits; but once Unalaq’s true intentions were revealed, Korra had to learn the hard way that her father and Tenzin only held her back in her training because they knew there were great forces of evil that would always try to misguide her and take advantage of her.
In season three, Korra was also in danger once the members of the Red Lotus escaped prison after Harmonic Convergence.
Despite many warning her that she should back off on the search for new airbenders, Korra insisted on still looking, putting her in grave danger.
Little did she know what danger lied ahead and what would become of her after being captured by the Red Lotus.
Once they got their hands on her, they poisoned her with mercury which would prove to be a painful experience that would leave her in a condition where she’s hardly able to move and causing her to lose her connection with Raava for three years.
During this time, Korra had to learn that despite being the Avatar, she too had limits just like everyone else.
She also became a more kind and patient person. This is demonstrated when she wanted to reason with Kuvira first, when Kuvira threatened to take over the Earth Kingdom, before having to resolve to combat when there was no other option.
Korra even went as far as to save Kuvira from her own demise when Kuvira’s energy blaster went berserk.
Even though Kuvira had the full intention of ending Korra’s life, Korra ended up saving Kuvira, putting herself in harm’s way to deflect the powerful energy blast away from Kuvira.
Somehow, the blast with Korra’s deflection caused a third spirit portal to open, welcoming in even more spirit and human interaction.
Korra was only able to do all of this after accepting the horrible things that had happened to her; and in doing so, the Avatar State came back to her when her friends and family needed her most.
All in all, Korra isn’t like Aang in many ways. She’s stubborn, head-strong, and way more aggressive. However, Korra is able to demonstrate her determination to be the best Avatar ever by getting up when each major villain was either trying to take away her bending, take away Raava from her, poison her, or take over her friends’ kingdom.
Korra always had the drive to be the bridge between worlds; but in many ways, she also became the key to unlocking different worlds and reclaiming the Air Nomads.
