Who wants to ride in my awesome airship?
There are some not going; Kya and Pema will stay to take care of the baby, whose name I'm not learning until his crazy eccentricity is revealed. Kya is introduced to babies by being vomited on by the baby, and Pema is right there to gloat over it. Kya takes the incident well, considering she can always wash herself off without using her hands. Ikki and Meelo are at first indignant they can't come. Even good old Poki the ring-tailed lemur is indignant. But Kya mollifies them by informing them that more air benders are out there, and some will show up at Air Temple Island. And they'll need someone to show them where the bathrooms are. Meelo is excited at the thought of new students for him to boss around. Ikki can't wait for company.
They're not the only ones staying behind. Mako shows up with a scroll slung on his shoulder, but it's not for him; he hands it to Korra, making sure to only address her in her official capacity as the Avatar. Korra at first thinks it's funny to humor this, and she's pleased that Mako's made a map of where reports of new air benders came from. She's not so pleased when she realizes that Mako's not coming. In his defense, he does have a job that requires showing up. Mako is getting ready to head back to Republic City when Bolin waylays him and guilts him into coming. Bolin achieves this with a drama queen re-enactment of possibly meeting their father's mother in Ba Sing Sei and having to watch her die if Mako isn't there too. Mako, who doesn't look like he ever expects to see any relatives ever, goes simply to shut Bolin up, complaining as he agrees that his boss isn't going to like this.
But Mako, what if you kill Grandmother?
As Team Korra lifts off and watches Republic City get smaller and farther away, a small motorboat brings a single man of the Order of the White Lotus to a wooden platform, secluded in the middle of the ocean. It's a completely-made-of-wood setting for a wooden cage in which resides one extremely muscled and tattooed man. Will flowing locks of black hair. No metal, no rock anywhere in site. The guards notice the approaching boat and think it's their shift change. Who's here? Zaheer! He leaps out of the boat, with his spiffy new air bending powers, and has a little fun with the guards, as he tosses three medium sized rocks into the wooden cell. The prisoner looks down and smiles.
Don't mind me, I'm just escaping
As Zaheer distracts the guards, the prisoner bends the rocks, and melts them into molten lava, then molds them into a shuriken, three curved blades joined together to make a center. Sending his new toy out, the prisoner slices open the wooden cell in three cuts, and leaps out of his cell, creating pandemonium. After defeating the guards, he greets Zaheer and asks about the new talent. Zaheer informs him that he's been able to air bend since Harmonic Convergence. What's more, Zaheer is convinced that gaining air bending is a sign. From someone. That he and his buddy, Ghazan, are doing the right thing. Remember that. Zaheer thinks he's the good guy.
How can we not be the good guys?
While prison breaks abound, Team Korra lands in the Earth Kingdom, at the first location on Mako's map. As they land, the map pops up, showing a team in an airship floating around the map, all with excited smiles. And Tenzin is rarin' to go once they land and are greeted by the local mayor, who's set up a dinner with Ku An, a local farmer who's been air bending as a hobby since Harmonic Convergence. He's happy to meet Avatar Korra and Master Tenzin, and happy to screw up his air bending in front of them, all the while pretending not to love being a local celebrity. But he's not so happy to find out that Tenzin and Korra want him to pack up, leave home, travel to the Northern Air Temple, and become a Air Nomad.
Yeah, I think I'll pass on being a monk with no stuff
Tenzin dismisses every reason Ku An gives for staying. What's a farm compared to resurrecting Air Nomad culture? Why would a man stay with his wife and kids and the only life he's ever known? Tenzin is amazed that he's not aching to leave everything behind for the amazing life of an Air Nomad. Korra tries to be polite, but her speech doesn't work on the kids, who don't want their dad to leave, either. And Ku An's wife isn't pleased when Tenzin insists that she should be fine with her husband ditching her. The dinner ends with Ku An kicking them out.
Back at the airship, our plucky gang tries to regroup. What went wrong? How could an airbender reject coming to a faraway temple, without his family, and learn about a culture he neither grew up in nor cares about? Why would he want to leave his farm? Doesn't he know there's a wonderful and totally alien life waiting for him if he gives up his old one? Totally oblivious to what exactly they're asking of people, all except Mako strategize for future visits. The idea to simply kidnap air benders in a potato sack and draft them as Tenzin's students is rejected, but only barely.
The journey to Earth Kingdom villages on their way to Ba Sing Sei goes pretty much like the dinner with Ku An, except Tenzin doesn't even get into anyone's house anymore. Why? He's got such a great life to offer air benders- you get to shave your head, wear a uniform, have few if any possessions, and meditate constantly. If you advance enough, you'll even get some funky tattoos and a flying pet too big to fit in your house! Why do people keep slamming their doors in his face? He's got so much to offer the comfortable villagers of the Earth Kingdom! Team Korra's map slowly shows a team going from happy to heartbroken. All along their tour, they haven't gotten a single airbender to come with them. Korra tells Tenzin to leave this last one to her.
The last one is a millennial with no ambition, and no desire to even move out of his parents' basement. Mom is ecstatic that Avatar Korra has come to take him away, but he has no desire to go anywhere, do anything, and doesn't care about his airbending. Korra takes to scolding him right away, completely flustered by his apathy and simple declarations that, actually, he doesn't have to care about the world, or balance. And neither does Korra. Korra is horrified by his declaring that, actually, Korra doesn't have to work to achieve balance. The guy doesn't seem to care about chaos; but then again, he gets to live in a rent-free orderly basement maintained by his parents. How would he like the chaos of homelessness? When Korra tries to angrily carry him away, the guy finally decides to use his new air bending to blow himself away from Korra. Mako and Bolin end up dragging Korra away, while Mom can only bemoan still having her son in her basement. Good luck with him, lady. Maybe Zaheer should have come along to bust him out.
Dude, your mom's basement isn't that awesome
Contrast this homey situation with the next prison break we get to see. Deep in a fiery pit, a single cage is suspended, currently occupied by an armless woman. Ghazan and Zaheer sneak into the prison, using their new bending skills, and smuggle in water in a barrel, which Zaheer shatters within bending distance from the armless prisoner. She immediately leaps into action, bending the water into prosthetic arms for herself. And these are spiffy arms: they can slice open her cell, swing her around, and climb back up the outside of the cage. Her water arms can be like whips, or she can swing herself around the entire pit within moments. When the guards are finally knocked out, she stands and happily tweaks the guys who just helped her escape. Calling her Ming Hua, Ghazan and Zaheer are unfazed by her teasing, and Zaheer happily informs her that they're going to get his girlfriend next. Oddly, she doesn't ask about the air bending.
Somebody make these for real, right now!
Too bad, because I think Team Korra would gladly take Zaheer at this point. They are now completely dejected, with Tenzin still not seeing that the life of an air nomad is... well.. an acquired taste. Bumi wonders if trying to sell the lifestyle could use some "razzle dazzle", and Bolin is on board, urging the team to put on a demo of what happens when air benders get some training. Make air bending look cool- maybe people will want to learn about it then. Bumi was really just going to bedazzle Tenzin's jacket, but he thinks Bolin's idea is great. Tenzin and Korra are actually ambivalent about making air bending look interesting for a crowd. And the display they put on the next day, at some anonymous town in the Earth Kingdom, is as schlocky and tacky as they come. Tenzin goes shirtless, maybe to look like a badass. Bumi demonstrates that air bending is easy for novices to learn. Bolin, as ringleader, wears a fake mustache and plays up everyone's performance. He bamboozles the crowd into thinking a dangerous fire bender is nearby, one who just happens to be milling around in the crowd, and looks suspiciously like Mako. When Mako appears, he deadpans his lines, and shoots up a pathetic puff of fire from his fist. The crowd still loves the show as Avatar Korra uses air bending to "apprehend" Mako, and even uses some surprise moves, so she and Asami can get a kick of out startling Mako.
The crowd, though entertained, breaks up when the show ends, and Team Korra is left with one tweenie. With his backpack, he's all ready to go with the team. They're a little incredulous at first- is he sure he wants to live in an Air Temple? But the boy, named Kai, is downright enthusiastic about leaving. Right away. When someone asks about Kai's parents, he launches into a teary description of a ruthless gang that killed his parents and are chasing him. The group swallows it, except maybe Mako, who has yet to be enthusiastic about anything they've been doing.
Oh yeah, you're conveniently free to just come with us right now...
As everyone files back onto the airship, with Kai, some rough types show up on motorcycles, and shout out to the airship that they want Kai, and no one's leaving with him. Korra, defender of everyone she thinks needs her help, marches out and promptly kicks their asses. So, imagine her surprise when she finally spots the leader's badge. Turns out, he's a cop, Kai's a thief, and his whole story was a lie. Except for being an orphan. He is. But he's on the run after conning an adoptive couple out of their valuables. When Kai can't be found, it's Mako who rejoins the group, lugging Kai and Kai's stolen goods back with him. As the cops lead Kai away, Korra makes a decision. Telling the cops to return the stolen goods, she offers to take Kai and raise him to abandon his life of crime. Tenzin objects at first; can a liar and an thief really make a good airbender? But Korra convinces him to agree to take the boy on.
However, that doesn't mean that Tenzin is going to like that arrangement; he snaps at Jinora when he catches her flirting with Kai and Kai flirting back. Bolin is thrilled, already calling Kai his little brother. But Mako makes sure to have a little "talk" with Kai, which is really just a series of threats if Kai doesn't stay in line. Considering Mako and Bolin's past, as orphans with long criminal histories, Mako probably thinks he knows Kai and what he'll try to get away with better than anyone. Maybe Mako, deep down, wishes someone had kept him honest as a child. The speech also reminds one of Katara's "welcome" to Zuko when Zuko came to teach Aang waterbending.
Future best buds
We return to the prison of the fiery pit, where the Order of the White Lotus has to explain to a disappointed Fire Lord Zuko that Zaheer, Ghazan, and Ming Hua have all escaped before anyone really knew what was going on. The poor schlepp also has to inform Zuko that Zaheer was air bending. Zuko, seeming to know exactly what to do, tells the guard to call Republic City and put extra guards on the Avatar. When the guard asks where Zuko is going, Zuko's response is to mount his ridiculously awesome dragon and tell the guard he's going to the Northern Water Tribe to talk to the chiefs there (guess who?), because he knows where Team Zaheer is going next. Zuko then rides off, his dragon speeding away so that Zuko can get all Fire Lord on Zaheer's ass.
Consider his ride pimped.
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