The ineffectiveness of law enforcement has struck me as well. The Triads seem to operate with near-impunity, which makes me wonder if the metalbending cops are actually corrupt. While the bender/non-bender division are being underlined and blamed by Amon and his followers, it seems pretty clear to me that there are…

Yes, the parallels to Mao (and Hitler and Stalin) are extremely compelling. Typically, using fascist/Communist iconography marks the bad guys as unambiguously evil, but somehow, Bryke is doing this in such a way that the fans are rooting for Hitler just a tiny bit. It's pretty amazing, actually.

Ho-ly shite. That's incredible.

I said it elsewhere, but Bolin really took on some child-like qualities in this episode that were endearing while also being completely unexpected given his self-confident bluster during "Leaf in the Wind." His naivete really does help put Mako's behavior in context, but it also makes Bolin a more interesting…

Mako resembles Zuko only in that 1) they are both firebenders, 2) the writers/animators have given them a disturbing level of raw sexual charisma (for some at least), and 3) they are both introduced as a whole bag of dicks, though it's clear that there's something else going on under the surface.

Yes. I'm guessing you're right.

The crossbow is sort of a thing in the books. If I recall correctly, Tyrion gives it to him as a gift in order to distract him, and that sort of backfires. Joff fancies himself a warrior, but he's just a mean little shit plucking the wings off flies.

I was similarly frustrated with the Dany scene. The dialogue felt forced and wooden to me, but I understand why she didn't want to show them her dragons immediately. Her power at the moment lies in their mystery and the curiosity of others. If she gives them the whole show right then and there, she has nothing left to…

I was expecting Harrenhal to look like a half ruined, haunted castle. I was not disappointed.

You don't really see much of it, but it's still a horrific scene. I'm not sure we really needed that grim an example of what shit Joffrey is. The Sansa scene does that plenty.

I keep posting some version of this every week, but here we go: Davos was the least interesting POV character in Book 2 for me. I'm midway through Book 3, and I'm finally starting to get some of the love, but his role in the series so far feels proportionate to his presence in CoK. I'm glad we finally got an on-screen…

I too found this scene to be a little strained. The actor playing Xaro seemed a little wooden, but the writing may be the real culprit there.

Arya is Tywin Fucking Lannister's cupbearer instead of Roose Bolton's. That's brilliant. I am salivating at the possibility of more Arya/Tywin scenes. I practically cheered when he appeared on screen.

So, basically, Amon is Kendra the Vampire Slayer? I think I hate this theory even more than the theory that Amon is Ozai.

The democratization of lightning bending/metalbending is proving to be controversial, as some fans seem to think it makes Iroh/Azula/Toph less awesome in retrospect. I definitely prefer your take on it, and that scene is a masterfully efficient bit of storytelling. Actually, this entire episode seemed to be packing on…

@The_Tuna:disqus Korra is easily my favorite as well. You can't have an entire cast full of Sokkas. I thought she and Mako were a fun pairing for this episode because they're both so fucking awkward when it comes to, you know, talking to people, and we got some insight into why. Not only is the chemistry between them…

I just saw the preview for next week (google it yourself…I'm on my phone), and it looks like the level of terrifying is getting jacked up another level. I think what could ultimately be the scariest thing about Amon is just how personal his agenda is. Sure, the Firelords were out to conquer and left a massive body…

You're correct that we haven't seen enough to make pronouncements about what kind of work is and isn't available to non-benders. The merchants we saw in Ep 1 seemed to be non-benders, android example. I think the point is that Amon is blaming benders for what seem to be much broader systemic failures: lack of a social…

It was intentional.

@avclub-1ff70043c78f44fc8841bd8203c00ed3:disqus Happily, the commentariat on these reviews isn't very flame-y. There are disagreements to be sure, but they tend to be civil.