The Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance Review

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

On October 30, 2020, I started watching The Legend of Korra Book 4: Balance—the final season—and finished on November 1, 2020. I consider this season the “Epilogue” season to resolve Book 3—and not the actual ending to the overall series—where things had to be set right. In this season, we learned what the characters have been up to over the past three years—a time skip—with a new threat rising, and how all that ties into Korra’s healing and return to her Avatar duties. Korra’s character arc was the heart and soul of the final season—which was perfectly fitting given how the series concluded.

Going off that “Epilogue” to Book 3 statement, I thought that made the season amazing. The overarching storyline—Kuvira’s campaign to unite the Earth Empire—wasn’t as strong as the previous storylines in my opinion, but it was definitely interesting and relevant in light of the upcoming presidential election at the time.

There were moments when the season felt like it was dragging its feet—the recap clip episode for example—but the major themes on PTSD, trauma, allegories on war, dictatorship, and weapons of mass destruction were explored perfectly. Also, the giant weapon of mass destruction—the giant robot—was terrifying. The Legend of Korra also didn’t shove the content down our throats—the subject matter simply clicked into place with the great writing and how the writers chose to handle Kuvira’s characterization.

Kuvira was a great villain—the opposite of Zaheer’s approach to “chaos is order” with her plan to unify the Earth Empire—and the perfect foil for Korra. They were two sides of the same coin, with the few scenes they shared together being major highlights of the final season. The duel they had in “The Battle of Zaofu” was exceptionally well-done with stunning action and raw emotional content.

Like I mentioned earlier, Korra’s emotional journey was the heart and soul of this season—the entire series. How the series tackled her trauma, PTSD, loneliness, and the emptiness she felt inside due to the events of Book 3 was well done especially for a kid’s animated series. The “Korra Alone” episode brought all that to the forefront—making it a great spiritual successor to the “Zuko Alone” episode from Avatar The Last Airbender.

I really enjoyed the analogy with the leftover metallic poison being left inside Korra, and how Toph couldn’t help get it out of her because Korra was indirectly keeping it in as an excuse to quit—“to stay in control”. The metallic poison represented trauma, and how only you can to be your own savior regarding the issues, doubts, and insecurities mentally poisoning our physical and mental states—nobody else can bend that stuff out of you. When Korra finally metal bended the metallic poison out of her—releasing the fear of Zaheer—it was such a potent emotional moment.

The other characters had interesting storylines throughout the season too, but some like Tenzin, Bumi, Lin, Opal, and Kai were underutilized—Kya didn’t even show up in the end to help out. Where was she, seriously? Did the writers forget about her? The writers certainly didn’t forget about Prince Wu though.

Prince Wu’s catchphrase “Wu down” gets me comedically every time. What does that say about a character who has a catchphrase whenever he falls down constantly? His final moments in the last two episodes of the season were pretty strong though—he got considerably better over time. The same with Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li—the most complex romance to have ever graced the Avatar universe.

Speaking of romances, Korra and Asami’s romantic ending was so well-done. The kiss shouldn’t have been cut out—Netflix didn’t add it back either, so I was disappointed when I didn’t see it—but that’s just how it was at the time. Showing queerness isn’t appropriate for children for some reason.

Overall, finishing the series made me want to rewatch the entire The Legend of Korra series after I finished or backtrack to Avatar The Last Airbender. These are such timeless shows that are worth reexploring for the life lessons we’re going to need for the uncertain future ahead—kid’s shows that allow us to “escape reality” while also “preparing us to go back after we’re done” instead of a pure joyful experience.

Thanks for reading this season review, everyone.

And also thank you so much, Avatar Korra for helping me and others through the darkness of 2020. It was good to see you again, old friend. May we meet again in the Spirit World. I hope you and your beautiful girlfriend Asami had a great vacation.