LOK: Enemy At The Gates Review

Hey everyone. Here’s the review of the latest Korra episode. Enjoy!

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Asami and Her Father

I’ll tackle this one first since it was – for the moment anyway – completely uninvolved with the rest of the episodes story. Any other example I might complain, but in this case I simply cannot.

This is the first time we’ve seen Hiroshi Sato since Book One, and to say he’s a shell of the man he used to be would be an understatement. He looked much older and frailer than he did before and he clearly regrets helping Amon in Book One. He’s tried to get in touch with Asami through letters but she’s refused to open any, and now this is the first time she’s since him since too.

At first she’s incredibly hostile, saying she wants nothing to do with him, but after seeing a father and daughter play Pai Sho in a park together, she softens...slightly. She goes back to him, makes it clear she hasn’t forgiven him yet, but she’s willing to at least try and offers to play a game of Pai Sho with him. The look on his face afterwards makes it clear that this means the world to him.

Honestly I’m a bit surprised they’ve waited this long to do something like this in retrospect, but I’m glad they did. It was a very touching bit and it’s handled with a sense of maturity I’ve come to love about this franchise. There’s no sudden forgiveness from Asami or conversely over the top anger. For much of the episode she just comes off as being deeply hurt; so hurt it pains her to even look at her father and just being near him makes her upset. It tells a tale of just how betrayed she felt by what he did.

And even at the end there’s no forgiveness, but she makes it clear that she’s willing to try and forgive him, which is great. It shows that such a betrayal won’t be forgiven instantly, it’s gonna take time for her to ever forgive her father for what he did, but with this episode they’ve made the first step towards reconciling, and that’s lovely.

And at the moment this is the closest reference we’ve gotten to the ‘Big Lipped Pai Sho Moment’ from Book 3 with Asami and Bolin, what with this explaining her talent with the game. Still think that bit was a waste of time though.

Varrick and Zhu Li

I was worried that Varrick’s role in this season would be relegated to just ‘Kuvira’s Scientist’ and he’d be just another antagonist by the end of it, so imagine my utter delight to see the creators actively defy this fear.

After seeing the destructive capabilities of harnessing energy from a Spirit Branch, Varrick is something he’s seemingly never done in his life; he’s restraining his intrigue and realising that this new innovation could do more harm than good. This is quite the breakthrough for his character; Varrick’s never been a bad guy per say but he’s clearly a selfish man who doesn’t mind doing shady stuff to get his way.

The Varrick of Book 2 probably wouldn’t have thought too much about what damage harnessing Spirit energy could cause. To him the intrigue and discovery of this would’ve been all that mattered, so for Varrick to actively look at what he’s doing and see the destruction he could cause is a pretty significant character development.

But of course the nicest surprise was just how much Zhu Li was involved in this episode. Up till now she’s been the largely silent, ever put upon assistant of Varrick, so seeing her as involved in the story as she was here was great. A lot of her personality shined through this episode and she was most certainly badass piloting that Mecha Tank. She seemingly betrays Varrick at the end, but...nah, the whole thing came off as pretty fake (though I’m sure she meant some of the things she said...). Most likely she was tricking Kuvira and will help save Varrick in a later episode.

Also, there’s one moment that implies VarrickxZhu Li........I Approve


OTP Pairing Baby!

Oh Yea, The Mecha Tanks

There are Mecha Tanks duking it out in a badass fight scene...within the Avatar universe.

That’s impossible to criticise.

Kuvira

So this episode was the one where Kuvira’s extremism really comes up front, symbolised by Bolin, Varrick and Zhu Li leaving her. Can’t blame them considering they were all implicitly threatened by her during this episode.

I’m actually a bit disappointed in some respects. I thought the show might keep the ‘friend vs friend’ theme going a bit longer, actually forcing some of the main characters on different sides, but now it seems limited to just Kuvira and the Beifong family. It’s not a deal breaker though because what we do have is pretty damn great, but yes Kuvira is unquestionably the villain now.

Toph’s speech from last episode explains it best; Kuvira genuinely believes she’s doing the right thing and has good intentions behind it all...but she’s also unbalanced, using excessive force and becoming as bad as the Monarchy she claims to hate to get her way. We’ve seen the way she treats those who don’t follow her plan, but it’s been revealed that liberated towns have been reduced to slave camps for her army. One can’t help but think back what the Fire Nation once did all those decades ago.

What I liked most about this episode was the flashback to how this all started. It’d been implied that this had started through a disagreement between Kuvira and Suyin, but now we’re given full details. I actually really like the idea that Kuvira was Suyin’s protégé because in many respects it feels like Kuvira’s living up to her example, or at least the Suyin she once admired. Think about it; Suyin created a city of peace, order and progression by herself, and isn’t that what Kuvira’s trying to do with the entire Earth Kingdom? Albeit in a much harsher way?

It’s interesting though that so far Bataar Jr. is completely behind her still. He’s not even shown shock at anything’s she’s done. It both shows his devotion to her and how much he now loathes his family. I kinda hope they explore this more because they’ve been a lot more vague on it.

Now, back to Suyin...

So, Suyin...

First you turn down the chance to stabilise the Earth Kingdom, something I still find bullshit even after hearing your reason. Does ‘not wanting to force your beliefs on others’ matter when the ENTIRE kingdom except your city is in utter chaos?! Don’t you think your country needs a fair, reasonable and clever mind like yours to bring it back into shape?!

And now, you didn’t bother to get any help from the United Forces before leaving Republic City in defending Zaofu...even though Kuvira explicitly threatened it whilst you were at the Coronation.

......Okay fess up, who hit Suyin with the Idiot Ball?

Korra

With Korra coming into the main story it’s looking like the entire dynamic of the story will change. While she has no actual power over the other nations she does have a lot of influence and who she sides with can potentially get others to her side. What I liked though is that in this episode she didn’t quite take a side.

Oh she doesn’t agree with what’s Kuvira’s doing, but she trying her best to avoid a massive conflict. As she says herself this is a massive change from the Korra of Book One, who would’ve been first to go head long into battle with Korra. It’s both refreshing and encouraging to see Korra try to find a diplomatic, non violent solution.

Hell this entire Zaofu solution is quite new for the series. It’s less about reacting to some new problem as it is preventing one before it happens. With Suyin planning to assassinate Kuvira and likely failing though it’s likely the invasion will happen and the series will be dedicated to stopping Kuvira, but it’s nice to see the attempt from Korra to prevent the bloodshed first.

In fact I’d hazard a guess that after taking over Zaofu Kuvira will try to invade Republic City, possibly due to it once being Earth Kingdom soil, but I daresay more for the bountiful amount of Spirit Trees. That’ll be one hell of a final battle and I’m excited to see what’s next.


Meelo Disapproves -20

Overall

Overall a much meatier episode than some of the previous episodes. We’ve learnt a lot today and the story has been progressed significantly further, and despite one of two minor issues I’m really loving where they’re taking this season. Let’s hope they keep it up for the rest of the season!