ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Avatar VS Korra: One Scene That Shows Why One Worked and the Other Didn't

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

With the recent announcement of Avatar: Seven Havens, we found ourselves looking back on The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Does Korra deserve its polarizing reputation, or is it unfairly judged? Does Avatar still hold up after all these years, or is it showing its age? How could two shows made by the same creative team, set in the same world, be so different? We picked one similar episode in each show that shows us what works and what doesn’t.Written by Harriet Lengel-EnrightHosted by Ryan Arey http://twitter.com/ryanareyEdited by Harriet Lengel-EnrightRandolf NombradoLee MazzioElias KenouryiakisSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Well, I'm the old Avatar, and my era's not over yet. Hey, welcome back Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Ary. So lately, I've been thinking about the two Avatar series, The Last Airbender and The Legend of Cora. Now, both, I think, are great series in their own right,

but I'd like to talk about one episode of each series that shows why Avatar was this. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place. And Cora was this. I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it! So first, let's take a look at the many similarities between these shows. Both series were created by the team of Michael Dante Di Martino and Brian Koniansko for Nickelodeon.

Now obviously, both follow the titular Avatar, a being with the ability to control all four elements. Water, earth, fire, air. The original series follows the peaceful airbending Avatar, Ang, and the sequel covers the journey of the tough water bending avatar, Cora. Both series have a well-loved supporting cast, including a snarky older brother, an idolistic younger sibling, and a badass with family issues. In each season, the protagonists must undergo trials to learn new skills, whether that be bending a new element or connecting with the spirit world. They are both mentored by someone connected to the avatar cycle and eventually end up teaming up with a former battle. to take down a bigger threat. Ang and Cora both find love, or in Cora's case,

find love, lose love, lose love, rinse repeat. And they both gather allies in their fights against the forces of darkness. Yeah, but both are great. Yes, while Cora is definitely more contentious, that series has its own great moments, which is why I want to compare Avatar to one of the best episodes of Cora.

It's only fair. Now, there are a fair amount of mediocre to just plain bad Cora episodes, especially in the second season. But because that season was mired in production difficulties, I don't think it's fair to compare it to an episode of the original series that didn't struggle with similar problems. Instead, I'd like to compare Cora's well-like season three finale, Venom of the Red Lotus, to Avatar, season two finale, the Crossroads of Destiny.

Both of these episodes take place at roughly the same point in the entire continuity of the series. But more importantly, both take place at the same point in The Hero's Journey. So the Hero's Journey is a template coined by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and it's a way of analyzing the common plot structure of a protagonist who goes on a, an adventure, triumphs over evil, and then returns changed. This hero travels through stages like the call to adventure and crossing the first threshold. These two episodes happen at the stage known as the ordeal or the descent into darkness for their respective protagonists. And these episodes set both Cora and Ang up for their final season where they must recover from their defeat.

In Avatar, this episode takes place at the end of the Basin Se arc. There's no war in Basin Seh. The hero's plans are going well as Ang has finally been reunited with Appa and the Earth King is listening to the news of the war. However, at the same time, Azula's coup is taking shape as she works to take over the city from the inside. In the season finale, Azula seizes control of the city. Zuko betrays his uncle, and Ang and his friends lose the duel against the Fire Nation siblings, barely escaping with their lives. Kora's season three finale resolves the Red Lotus plot line, where a group of anarchists led by the airbender Zahir attacked Kora and her friends. The Red Lotus members feel the existence of the avatar upsets the balance of the world.

and therefore Cora must die for the world to be truly free. Zahir captures Cora and infuses her body with poison. This is to force her to enter the Avatar state so she can be killed, ending the Avatar cycle. Cora and Zahir have a fierce duel. Then, thanks to the assistance of air nomads, Zahir is defeated and Cora is safe from the poison, although it leaves her with lasting physical and psychological damage.

Both Finaleys feature a contrast between hope and despair. In Avatar, the hope comes from Ang's recovery from Missoula's attack. But the despair comes from the state of the world. The Earth Kingdom has fallen. In Cora, the situation in the world is hopeful, with the Air Nomads having returned and Janora's mastery ceremony. However, the character herself has never been in a worse state. Venom of the Red Lotus is one of the strongest episodes of Cora

because it highlights everything about the series that works. While Avatar spent more time fleshing out Ang's supporting cast, Cora spends more time developing the internal workings of Cora, of Cora herself. Since the series was aimed at teenagers instead of preteens, they chose to focus on darker topics like mental health struggles, including Cora's PTSD, which is introduced in this episode. But these darker themes actually hurt the production of the series since Nickelodeon didn't feel that it fit with their brand. Nick first moved the show to a worse time slot, the infamous Friday night death slot, and then to an online only release for the latter half of

season three and all of season four, citing declining ratings. Now, while this meant the series got worse views, it also gave the creators more control over the series. Seasons one and two of Cora struggled to find their voice because its creators never knew if they were getting another season. Both seasons are forced to have finales that could be the finale of the entire show instead of you know, setting up longer arcs. I think this is what led to storylines like Cora suddenly getting her powers back in the season one finale, which actually could have been another season-long arc. On the other hand, Di Martino and Konitsko knew exactly how many seasons and episodes Nickelodeon was giving them at the start of the original series.

Planning out a three-season arc is simpler when you know from the beginning that you have three seasons. Ang has a natural goal each season, to master a new element. Cora is essentially a fully realized avatar by the end of season one. Legend of Cora was originally supposed to be a mini-series, and as a result, season two struggled to find a believable conflict for her. It also had to reinvent character dynamics for a longer running series. Mako and Cora's relationship arc had concluded by the end of season one.

But then, in season two, their relationship was thrown into annoying turmoil to keep it interesting. Was it a bad fight? Uh, no, no, it wasn't that bad. It didn't help that the love triangle, which was widely disliked by fans, made its dramatic return in season two. Mako, I missed you so much. But Cora found its footing again in season three. Seasons three and four focus on Cora's internal conflicts and depowering her, rather than finding consistently believable threats for a super being.

It also ditched the love triangle in favor of developing the character's internal lives. They also make Cora face the legacy of the Avatar, showing the series' true struggle to find its identity outside of The Last Airbender. Season 3 was the first time the creators knew for sure they were going to get a follow-up season, so they were able to fully embrace the show's darker tone and end the finale on a very depressing but moving note. Cora's villains are also polarizing for people who love or hate the show. Cora has some good villains. They say the Avatar has failed humanity.

That is why the spirits have chosen me. And some bad villains. Brother, I'm too strong for you. You're no brother of mine. You betrayed me. Yes, I did. But season three, Zahir is the fan favorite. Zahir has considerable screen time

to devoted to his philosophy and motivation. His character is particularly unnerving because of his calm disposition. Compared to Ozai's fire-spitting rage in Avatar, Zahir is a more complex. villain. He personally holds no ill will towards Cora herself, but he believes her death is necessary to bring about a better world. Now, we would never say Ozai is a bad villain, since he is crucial in the original series. But Cora's villains serve a different purpose aside from representing pure evil. Ozzi is more of a symbol of the all-consuming evil of war and genocide.

But Cora's villains highlight different aspects of her character. Zahir, in particular, pushes Cora further than she's ever been pushed and makes her confront her status and legacy as the avatar. He makes her fight not only for her life, but for the avatar to continue as a concept. In some ways, Cora shares Zahir's disdain for the difficult world leader she's had to confront, like the Earth Queen or President Rako. She favors destruction more than Ang ever did, and Zahir is all about the destruction of the current world order. He even approves of her decision to open the spirit portals in season two, a decision that causes worldwide backlash throughout season three. But Zahir's violence shows Cora that this destructive philosophy can be pushed too far.

Kora repeatedly learns that her tendency towards violence can cause more harm than good. In season one, she faces an image of herself as an oppressor to non-benders. And in season three, she sees that her worst impulses could turn her into someone like Zahir. Also, as a master airbender Zahir parallels Ang, although obviously not in every way. Violence wasn't the answer. It never is. Zahir's arc this season involves giving up emotion to unlock his true power after the death of his girlfriend. Ang goes through a similar arc in unlocking the avatar state.

By confronting a nimble, level-headed airbender, Cora is confronting her legacy as a sequel protagonist to one of the most beloved TV shows of all time. The Red Lotus also echoes the White Lotus. The creators are intentionally calling back to an aspect of the original series that people loved, and then they're twisting it beyond recognition. I admire how Cora's creators committed to being different from the last airbender. Instead of feudal fantasy, they drastically changed the setting to a big city in the midst of an industrial revolution. They created a protagonist who is the polar opposite of

Ang. Kora never fell into the sequel trap of simply repeating what already worked. Now, like we said, unlike Avatar, Kora's narrative struggled because the network never fully committed to the show. Or why not? Well, according to animation director Yu Jiam Young, part of the reason was because the network never liked that the series had a female protagonist. out. I can't. While Cora is a bruiser who would rather finish a fight with her fists than her words. You're the only ones who are going to need a hospital. And for your sake, I hope there's one nearby. Both characters are deeper than those initial impressions, but on the surface, they are complete opposites.

Cora committed to changing almost everything that fans loved about the original series, and this helped to give the series its own voice. But Cora's bold strokes didn't always work. Avatar is overall a much more solid television show than Cora, but Cora's often screen problems are what kept the show from reaching its potential. Like we would rather rewatch The Great Divide any day instead of rewatching most of Cora Season 2. Look, it's the Great Divide, the biggest canyon in the Earth kingdom. Eh, let's keep flying. Venom of the Red Lotus is one of the best episodes of Cora, but it still suffers from some of the series' larger problems. For one thing, the supporting cast

of Cora was a weaker element of this series. Now, while I like Bol and Mako and especially Asami, they felt extraneous to Cora's story, whereas Katara, Saka, and Toff were essential to the story of Ang growing up and realizing his full potential. The ultimate message of Avatar is that Ang needs his friends to succeed. But for the majority of Cora, it seems like the writers are scrambling to find something for her Avatar gang to do. The weaker cast Nader was this episode, where Bolin, Mako, and Asami were relegated

to fighting lesser threats while Cora takes on the big bad. She barely interacts with her friends in this episode, making their battle feel like an unnecessary side quest. It doesn't help that the lesser villains, like the scary Water Lady and the Lava Guy, have barely any character traits. And by the way, if you remember their names without looking them up, I don't believe you.

Are you saying I'm a liar? Mako straight up kills Minghua and it's never touched on again, because in the grand scheme of this show, she doesn't really matter. Asami doesn't even get a highlighted battle, instead facing the anonymous Red Lotus soldiers for less than 10 on-screen seconds. Actually, Azula's voice actress, veteran performer Gray Delisle also makes an appearance in Cora as Minghua. Now, when you compare

those two villains, Azula blows Minghua out of the water. Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player. Part of the problem is that there are simply too many supporting characters in Cora. Each season added more and more to Cora's supporting cast. We not only have Team Avatar, which consists of Bol and Makko Asami and sometimes Tinsen, but we also have Lynn, Sue Yen, Kora's dad, Janora, and the rest of Tinsen's family and Kai. When everyone shows up in a big clump, towards the end of the episode, it leaves no time for any meaningful moments with the individual supporting cast. On the other hand, the Crossroads of Destiny is when Avatar's supporting cast shines. It features some of the best moments in the show, from both supporting heroes and villains.

Zuko and Katara bond in the caverns under Bossing Say. Iro and Ang get to have a heart to heart, and Azula and Longfeng's confrontation is one for the history books. Instead of waiting until the end of the finale to reunite the characters, The Avatar tosses them together in interesting combinations throughout its episode's runtime. While Kora's supporting cast barely ever interacts with season three secondary villains, Zuko and Azula's interactions with the rest of the cast are some of the finale's best moments. The fights in each episode also highlight what makes each protagonist work. Ang focuses on avoiding combat when he can.

But in his battle, he works with Katara, reminding us of her fighting prowess and demonstrating how Ang needs help from his friends. The power of friendship is so amazing! On the other hand, Cora's battle with Zahir is a brutal one-on-one fight. It's more reminiscent of Aang's final battle with Ozai, where we really see the protagonist take a serious beating before striking back with all possible force. Now, as the poison slowly kills Cora, she attacks Zahir with everything she's got

and shocks even the Red Lotus with her power. Whereas Ang asks himself, What if I'm not powerful enough? And the fight demonstrates that Ang is not powerful enough. We are seeing an avatar who has yet to come into his full power. and so he loses to both Azula and the Dalit. Ang is forced to sacrifice his emotions for Katara mid-battle in order to finally enter the Avatar state.

And even then, it's too late. The Avatar state, instead of powering him up, leaves him vulnerable. Cora, on the other hand, doesn't need the Avatar state to be a powerhouse. She counters Ang's arc by resisting full Avatar mode to avoid becoming vulnerable to Zahir. Both characters are eventually forced into the Avatar state through their circumstances, and they both almost die. Katara fighting Azula is also not a one-off fight, as opposed to the duels by Mako and Bolin.

In this duel of masters, both are important characters with their own emotional arcs. It also foreshadows their showdown in the series finale. Katara even uses some similar movements here, like trapping Azula's limbs in water, the same way she will trap her entire body in their final fight. Now, I can't talk about the crossroads of destiny without mentioning Zuko,

because it is his crossroads that the title refers to. Throughout season two, Zuko is continuously confronted by the two warring sides of his nature. He wants to please his father, regain his honor, and take his crown back. On the other hand, his peaceful inner nature wants to live happily with his uncle and forget about the avatar. He feels both pride in his birthright and shame in his actions. Part of the reason this episode works so well is that this is the moment when Zucco makes the wrong choice. In a moment of weakness, he betrays his uncle in favor of just a chance to return to his old life.

The legend of Cora does not have an equivalent supporting character. Cora's own arc in season four most closely parallel Zucco, as she too must grapple with her role in the world against her personal wants and needs. This is reflected by the title of the episode, Zuko alone and Cora alone. But while Cora only gives this level of depth to its main character, one of Avatar's antagonists went through so much character growth that he becomes one of the series' most beloved cast members.

The problem with Cora's villain of the season antagonists is that they never have the screen time that's required, to establish long-term character arts like Zucco and Azula. The final moment of each conflict also highlights the supporting characters of both shows in both positive and negative ways. In the final moments of the duel with Azula, after Ang has been shot full of lightning and all hope seems lost, Iro takes Team Avatar side to stand against his niece and nephew,

whereas in Cora, they just use the supporting characters to cut tension. Oh, whoa! You see what I did there? I put a sock in it. After they worked so hard to build up this conflict, this gag immediately de-escalates the tension. It also seems like an odd lead-in to the following scene where we see Cora in the depths of her depression after the battle. In both episodes, the gang is aware of the evil plan,

but they fail to stop it. The Earth Kingdom falls. Cora loses her powers and her confidence. The Avatar cycle may not have ended as the here wanted, but Cora is certainly not as strong as she was. He has broken something within her, and it's going to require a season-long arc for her to recover. Similarly, the fall of the Earth Kingdom sets up for the desperate last stand,

against the Fire Nation that is book three of the original series. These two episodes both end on a dower note for their protagonist. Ang's crew flies away from the Fallen Nation, while Cora cries, trapped in her own misery and on Janora's Day of Happiness, no less. These somber moments that the episodes leave us with are the best possible way to pave the path for the final seasons of both shows. Cora's darker tone and willingness to make bold decisions shine in this episode, but it also displays the show's larger problems of managing its supporting cast to both heroes and villains.

The original series expertly shows off its supporting characters at the expense of not focusing as much on Ang's internal arc. However, both episodes achieved what they set out to do in their season finale. But the larger problems that work for Cora still cast a shadow over its best episodes. Big shout out to Harriet Lingle Inwright, the writer of this episode. You can find our socials below and let us know what you think about all this down in the comments or at me on Twitter or on our free to join Discord server. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe and smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie. I'm going to be.