Book 4 of Legend Of Korra came out two months after Book 3. It shouldn't have turned out as well as it did. It's a goddamn miracle that Book 4 manages to not only hold its own coming off the heights of Book 3, letting alone just being a great season in its own right.
Book 4 of Korra is heavily built off of the fallout of the third book. Three years after the Red Lotus attacked, the Earth Kingdom is in disarray, Korra has PTSD from her poisoning, and the group is pretty much split up. When Suyin's adopted daughter Kuvira tries to pick up the pieces and reunite the Earth Kingdom under her rule, Korra has to get over her trauma and stop her. Kuvira is my personal favorite villain of the whole show. I love that she's not as powerful as Ozai or Zaheer aside from being adept at metal-building, so she manages to excel through political maneuvering and her own wits. Even more, having a more smaller scale villain allows the cast to deal with their own conflicts, which is great for a final season. Book 4 is far more character-driven than any of the Korra seasons, and is the point in which I truly began to love the cast. However, my biggest gripe with this season involves the pacing. Book 4 is 13 episodes but given how little time they had to make it, they didn't need to add a clip show episode right in the middle, one that wasn't nearly as well-done as Avatar's. However, since this season feels like less of a build-up than Book 3, it feels a lot more consistently strong, with its best episodes being scattered throughout the season.
Obviously, Korra is the star of the show here. Her storyline about overcoming PTSD is absolutely beautiful and insanely well-done throughout, culminating in a triumphant sequence where she confronts Zaheer only for him to help her out. The Beifongs also get a lot of great material given their relationship to Kuvira, and best character Toph returns with a surprisingly large role. Mako is actually likable and interesting this time around, as he has to take care of the Earth Queen's sleazy replacement Wu. It's great to see Mako warm up a bit (pun intended) and Wu take his job more seriously, as the two slowly form a strong friendship with each other. And then there's Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li who get a phenomenal arc where they firmly join the good side and realize they love each other. Varrick was already an amazing character in Book 2 but his development here was excellently done, and his proposal to Zhu Li might just have been one of the best executed scenes in the whole series. Speaking of love, there's also Korra and Asami ending up together in the end. While it may be a bit too subtle nowadays (especially with shows like She-Ra and Adventure Time), it was a groundbreaking moment in children's entertainment that deservers praise.
Book 4 has a lot of my personal favorite episodes that help elevate it for me:
Korra Alone: This episode is an absolutely devastating and affecting depiction of dealing with trauma that feels more subtle and genuine than any other episode of the whole show. The way Korra slowly alienates herself from her friends and loses her drive to fight is just heartbreaking. But hey, at least Toph's back!
Operation Beifong: This episode was just plain fun. Bolin, Lin, and Opal saving the Beifong family from Kuvira is amazing, mostly just because everything goes right. There are so many badass moments from all of the earth benders, especially Toph, and the reveal that Zhu Li isn't actually evil is a big relief.
Day Of The Colossus: The first half of the series finale could have been goofy given that the final battle was against a mech, but it really works. This episode has a strong sense of dread as the whole cast tries to tie up loose ends (leading to that amazing proposal scene), and the ending with Hiroshi's sacrifice does a good job at resolving Asami's storyline.
The Last Stand: A phenomenal and satisfying finale for the show, even if it's not as built up to as Avatar's finale. The final battle with Kuvira started off as an intricate showcase of metal-bending and ended on an emotional note, Mako's sacrifice was great (even though he should've died), Varrick marrying Zhu Li is adorable, and of course, Korrasami continues to be one of the biggest moments in animated TV history.
Overall, I have a soft spot for Book 4. Even with its pacing issues, it's easily the most consistently strong and character-driven season of the bunch, with a great villain, phenomenal character arcs, and a strong finale that help end Korra on a strong note.
5/5 Stars
My ranking of the Avatar/Korra seasons is:
Avatar 3 > Avatar 2 > Korra 3 = Korra 4 > Avatar 1 > Korra 1 > Korra 2
And my ranking of the Avatar/Korra finales is:
Avatar 2 > Korra 3 > Avatar 3 > Korra 4 > Avatar 1 > Korra 1 > Korra 2
Favorite Avatar Episode: Into The Inferno
Favorite Korra Episode: Beginnings
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