Avatar: The Legend of Korra Book Two - Episode 3 Review

Last week’s episode of Legend of Korra was a little disappointing for me, but it left me hopeful that the rest of the season would be better. This week’s episode entitled “Civil Wars Part I” showed me that I was right to be hopeful.

I thoroughly enjoyed episode three. Many of the problems that I had with the first two episodes were not present this time around. For example, there were no spirit battles this week. All the action was focused around the Northern Water Tribe’s conflict with the South. This resulted in a lack of action all together, allowing the episode to focus on some of the series’ stronger points.

The focal point of episode three was the Southern Water Tribe reacting to the Northern invasion, and Korra’s attempts to stay neutral and prevent the outbreak of civil war. Despite the fact that Korra is now able to bend all four elements, this is the first time she has ever felt like the avatar. In the past Korra has usually been the source of conflict, but on this occasion she is the one trying to resolve the conflict before it worsens. It seems that the show’s creators were saving the moment when Korra’s character development would kick in until this episode.

Another great thing about this episode was that we got to see more of Tenzin’s relationship with his family and we learned of what Aang was like as a father. This was perhaps my favourite part of the episode, because the writers were doing what they do best: creating and expanding an extraordinary universe. I’d like to point out at this point that I love Lisa Edelstein’s voice acting as Tenzin’s sister Kya. She seems very sincere and her character was one of my favourites this episode. Unfortunately, all of the great character revelation here was put in the back seat to a less intriguing story element, meaning that we didn’t get all that much of it.

There only a few complaints this time. Firstly, Unalaq is still a terrible character and hasn’t become any more convincing despite the fact that he is so obviously the villain of the story. Secondly, there were two things missing from this episode that left some holes in the plot. The main one was Jinora’s storyline that was so interesting from last episode. Towards the end of the season premier, Jinora was seen exploring the hall of statues in the air temple. She found a strange looking statue of whom we can only assume is the first avatar. But at the beginning of episode three, we see Jinora after this event with no explanation as to what the statue was. The other thing missing was Asami. We know from the last episode that she is still in the Southern Water Tribe, yet we don’t see her at all in this episode.

Overall, I loved “Civil Wars Part I”. It really feels as if the series is getting back on track. And with eleven episodes left, I have a feeling that it will be a really great one.

8.5/10