The Legend of Korra Book 3: Change Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.
On October 26, 2020, I started rewatching The Legend of Korra Book 3: Change and finished on October 29, 2020. I consider this season my favorite for consistently delivering great character stories—with a great plot tying them together—and showcasing great character development for everyone involved.
Korra had demonstrated incredible growth as the Avatar when it came to counseling others, making group decisions with Team Avatar, and considering the consequences of her actions more often. New Team Avatar found their footing this season, with my D&D players even seeing how they acted like Bolin and Mako sometimes during our sessions.
The quiet moments where Korra expressed her doubts to Tenzin also humanized her, reminding us that she does feel uncertainty especially with her connection to the past lives gone. Allowing Korra to also develop a “close friendship” with Asami was honestly my favorite character dynamic to watch; the line “I never had a girlfriend to hang out and talk with before” hits different now.
The female characters this season—Korra, Asami, Jinora, Lin, and Suyin—were also given breakout roles, which is still refreshing to see. The only character who got snubbed in this season was Opal—daughter of Suyin and granddaughter of Toph—who faded into the background after she left for the Northern Air Temple for Airbending training.
The villain this season—Zaheer—is definitely going down as one of my favorite villains alongside Azula and Fire Lord Ozai. Zaheer is a non-bender and a member of the Red Lotus who tried to kidnap Korra when she was a child and failed, being imprisoned for 13 years. After Harmonic Convergence at the end of Book 2, non-benders around the world—including Zaheer—became Airbenders. With his new bending abilities, Zaheer escaped his prison and broke out his other associates to resume their 13-year-old plan.
I was surprised we didn’t get a flashback story regarding how the Red Lotus tried to kidnap little Korra. Similar to how Book 2 told Avatar Wan’s origin story, a two-part episode with Tenzin, Zuko, Sokka, and Korra’s father being fleshed out and fighting against the Red Lotus would’ve been awesome to see. We did a flashback story with Lin and her sister though during the Zaofu arc, but I think I would’ve preferred the other story for the grander scheme. The main story with the Red Lotus ultimately still worked out, but that flashback idea would’ve been great to see.
Zaheer made great arguing points about government constructs being forms of oppression, and how no authority figure in Korra’s life—President Raiko, her uncle Unalaq, and most recently the Earth Queen—has done her any favors. Also, the whole disorder is order philosophy does make sense when thinking about today’s times, and what we experienced these last few months of 2020.
I enjoyed how all the storylines transitioned and interconnected consistently from start to finish regarding Zaheer, the return of the Air Nation, and the Zaofu arc as well. The connection issue was solid, and the pacing worked great as there was little to no filler as each episode passed. Even Mako and Bolin were given moments to shine in this season.
The animators did a fantastic job with this season, showing the most visually striking action sequences I had ever seen from an anime—the fight scenes were incredible. Even the causal scenes appeared stunningly animated compared to the last two seasons.
This was easily the darkest season yet regarding the outcome and Korra’s broken state. The ending of Book 3—and its title—echoed Avatar Aang’s last words to Korra, "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." The ending also added fuel to Zaheer’s philosophy about not being able to stop change from happening—something that echoes today’s current events.
Obvious to say but it needs to be said, no matter what era it is, Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra will always be relevant and worth rewatching for the life lessons learned. The Legend of Korra also officially proved itself to be Avatar The Last Airbender’s successor. Thanks for reading this season review, everyone! I’ll see you all in my Book 4 review. I have to see Korra’s journey conclude.