Now that people are pointing it out, I can totally see what you mean. While I was watching, though, I think I just saw it as somewhat heavy-handed foreshadowing that Mako was going to have to continue working as Wu's bodyguard, because the guy's so wimpy and having Mako around is like a security blanket for him.

I cry unabashedly at all things (life is pain, etc), so I probably don't have anything useful to add…

Ah, but that also would mean a lot of dead Korra characters! Could my heart take it? Every time I think about the fact that Sokka's no longer with us, I feel all dark on the inside. /despair

I've actually got a soft spot for Kai, but it's probably more because I inevitably like "irascible, roguish orphan" type characters than anything the creators have actually done with him. He's got some endearing qualities, I guess. *shrug* Plus, Jinora likes him. I trust Jinora's judgement!

Personally, I approach a lot of art -wanting- to be moved, and it feels safe (even indulgent) to get emotional because it's this very internal, private experience. This kind of sorrow can be pleasurable in a certain way. But when something terrible happens in real life, there's nothing nice or comforting about the…

It didn't really occur to me that Wu might be gay (and this is coming from someone who was shipping Bolin/Varrick season 2). I just figured that if there -was- going to be an openly gay character in the Avatar-verse, Bryke wouldn't write him as a spoiled, foppish prince whose favorite conversational topic is spa…

While I totally understand and don't blame Bryke for being exhausted with the Avatar-verse and needing to move on… it would be my dream to see a show about the 2nd Avatar, or at least one of the early incarnations. The season 2 episodes about Wan were some of the series' best, and there's something so incredibly cool…

For me, Korra Season 1 was rather humorless. Bolin had a few moments, as did the Airbender kids, but overall it had much more sombre tone than AtLA. Season 2 seemed like it was trying to course-correct by veering wildly in the opposite direction, but it was hit-and-miss with the jokes. On the one hand we got Varrick…

Totally agree! I think Korra's matured a great deal as a human being over the course of the show, and since the end of Season 2 she's been a wiser leader and better team player. I also love stories that take their characters to really dark places— that's where a lot of the most interesting insights happen. I'm a…

Man, Oliver reeaaaallyyyyy hated Henry Rollins' voice acting, didn't he? It's a new season and he's still on the case! Personally, I've enjoyed both Rollins' and Zelda Williams' work a lot. This show's always had great voice actors. The only one I've never been too keen on is Kai.

I also thought the exclusion of Korra until the episode's final minutes was extremely effective. If there's been one thematic through line running throughout LoK's first three seasons, it's been the questioning of the continued importance of the Avatar in the modernized world. The premiere perfectly taps into this…

You'll starve again! Unless you learn the meaning of the law!

I don't know if anyone else has made this observation down-thread, but the similar designs of Zaheer's cave and the caverns where The Crossroads of Destiny took place (those green crystals) could have been a purposeful visual callback. It seems like these two finales were meant to parallel and echo one another. Not…

True. I've gotten both endings, and found Otacon's much more compelling. I liked Meryl for the first half of the game, but as Snake grew to recognize his *~feelings~* for her, it felt like she lost much of what made her unique— instead of focusing on her own personal struggles (her reluctance to take life vs. carrying…

I agree, in that I didn't mind at all seeing that Kai was alright this episode. Especially since it turns out that he came away without any significant injuries; it probably would have felt cheap/anticlimactic seeing the same scene play out at the beginning of ep. twelve after, as you said, making us fret over his…

Thanks so much for the welcome. I do plan on sticking around; I love (over)analyzing every piece of fiction I consume, much more than any of my real-life friends can tolerate, so participating in the discussion boards should be a blast if I can maintain some confidence. That's why I started lurking in the first place—…

Hello, there. Coming someone else who took the step to de-lurk after reading this article/comment section, try not to feel bad! I relate a lot to what you wrote here— your self-consciousness, feelings of inadequacy, financial difficulties, the sense that work is often just pointless drudgery. Thanks for working up the…

Thanks for this reply. And hello to you, as well! :)

A bit late in the game, but still I’d like to add my voice to the chorus thanking you for this piece, Marah. I know it often takes a lot of courage to write this honestly, especially when it comes to a topic like depression, because talking about it can so easily become tangled up with feelings of shame, fear, or…