TV REVIEW: Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits

The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits is the second season of the sequel to Nickelodeon’s  The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.  In case you haven’t seen the first season (Book 1:Air) of The Legend of Korra it tells the story of Korra, the new Avatar after Aang. The series is set 70 years after the original series where the world had live in peace and the avatar lives among the people in Republic City.

The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits is a 14 episode series that continues to follow Korra as to how she develops and matures as the new avatar. In the first part of the season Korra continues her training under the guidance of Tenzin (Aang’s son who also happens to be an air bender). Korra believes that her training isnt going anywhere with Tenzin that’s why she decided to find a new mentor whom she found in her uncle, Unalaq. Unalaq is later revealed to be the main antagonist in the season as he was only using Korra to free the evil Vaatu, who was the spirit of evil and darkness and try to rule over the whole world as the dark avatar. Korra then defeats Unalaq with the help of Raava, the spirit of good and light and was able to restore peace and balance to the whole world.

Whats nice about in Book 2:Spirits is the world building of the whole Avatar universe. This season we learn more about the myth and the origin of how it all begun. We learn about the story of Wan, the first Avatar. In the legend of Aang we learned how Aand stopped the war and bought peace to the world. In The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits we learn more about the actual avatar as to how the Avatar became the bridge between the spirit and the physical worlds.  Wan was actually a thief who was banished from the Lion Turtle City because he stole the gift of fire from the Lion Turtle and becoming the first fire bender. Before the world was only divided in different Lion Turtle cities which consists of the different elements (fire,water,air,earth). After being banished Wan travelled the world and was able to meet different spirits and earn the gifts from the other Lion Turtles and mastering the four elements.

Tenzin, Aang’s son and mentor to Korra

In his travel, Wan came across the eternal battle between good (Raava) and evil (Vaatu). Wan was tricked into helping Vaatu escaped from Raava and to make up for his mistakes promised Raava to help capture Vaatu again. Wan merged with Raava and became the first Avatar and they were able to imprison Vaatu for the next 10,000 years. Every 10,000 years there is a cosmic event that aligns all the planets and opens the portals to both the physical and spiritual world called Harmonic Convergence. During Harmonic Convergence every 10000 years Vaatu attempts to escape from his prison and this is the opportunity that Unalaq use to obtain Vaatu’s power to became the dark avatar just like when Raava merged with Avatar Wan.

Avatar Wan, the first Avatar

Its great to see how the creators where able to continue the legend of the avatar and expand the avatar universe. Of course the original series is still the best but The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits is continuing to live up to the legacy of the original series. The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits still maintained its high level of animation combined with great story telling. It’s a show intended for kids and continues the tradition of telling good moral stories in its animation like the hunderds of animations before it. I would highly recommend The Legend of Korra Book 2:Spirits to long-time fans, new fans (though I would suggest to watch the original series to appreciate it more) and to both the young  and the young ones at heart.

The different incarnations of the Avatar, led by Avatar Aang, the last Airbender

It has been confirmed that there would be a third season for The Legend of Korra to be titled Book 3:Changes. Book 3 would showcase the new world where both the spirits and humans live in one world due to the results of the events in Book 2. No schedule had been provided when the production for Book 3 would begin.