My household was beyond delighted with the finale of Avatar: The Legend of Korra this weekend. Along with a great deal of the rest of the Internet, we were specifically delighted by the ending.
Dara’s been monitoring the Korrasami explosion on tumblr all weekend, which has been a delight to behold. Not so much of a delight is the fight Dara’s been having to wage on Wikipedia to get the Korrasami ending acknowledged–because while a lot of the fandom is in favor of it, there are those who are stridently against it as well.
Which makes me sad. It makes me sad as well that the creators couldn’t come right out and explicitly declare that Korra and Asami had feelings for each other. But it should surprise none of you that I’m in favor of it. Others all over the Net have called out how the show went as close to outright stating as they could.
For example, with the framing of Korra and Asami in a way that’s noticeably similar to various established het couples in this season.
Couples on Korra
Or how the music they played over that final scene is the same piece they used in Airbender when Aang and Katara declared their feelings for each other: a thing called, in fact, “The Avatar’s Love”.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: representation matters. I grant you, I’m coming at this with a bisexual worldview, and so it seems pretty damned apparent to me that this storyline’s intent is that Korra and Asami became a couple. But what looks like representation to me unfortunately is not as obvious to people who aren’t specifically hoping for that kind of a resolution–and worse, those for whom same-sex relationships are outright objectionable are bound and determined to go LALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU. The fight Dara’s having on Wikipedia had the other person eventually state that they wouldn’t take anything short of a statement by the creators of the show as to what was intended.
A statement that, I note, would not be demanded if that final scene had involved Mako instead of Asami. I doubt anybody who saw the finale would have doubted for an instant that that was a romantic resolution if Mako had been involved.
As for me? I choose to believe that Asami and Korra are now going to have a delightful and romantic sojourn in the spirit world, and perhaps Uncle Iroh will officiate their marriage. Because I mean, honestly, people, how is this not a romantic scene?
Korra and Asami
Also, I’d just like to say that even aside from the Korrasami ending, the whole season has been a delight. I really appreciated the character development on Korra’s part, and even aside from the rough schedule imposed on the show by Nickelodeon, I feel that seasons 3 and 4 were both very strong storytelling. And the finale in particular was deeply satisfying, and a hell of a strong note to end on.
I really, really hope we’ll get to continue to visit Korra’s world courtesy of the Avatar comics Dark Horse has been putting out. They’ve been doing excellent stories featuring Aang’s cast, and I would buy stories featuring further adventures with the Korra cast in a heartbeat.
Here are further links to discussion elsewhere:
On io9: My Thoughts On Korra’s Schrodinger Relationship Status
On the Mary Sue: On That Legend of Korra Ending Scene & The Desire For Explicit Representation and MegaRecap of Our Favorite Moments from The Legend of Korra Finale!
ETA: Additional commentary from elsewhere!
On Tor.com: Legend of Korra’s Finale and the Problem With “Fan Service” and You Gotta Deal With It: The Legend of Korra is Over
ETA #2: THIS JUST IN, Kotaku reports that the show’s creators say YES, it is intentional. 😀
I have just informed Dara that we clearly need a GIF of Asami going “I’m the Avatar’s GIRLFRIEND! You gotta DEAL WITH IT!”
The creators have their own posts up here and here. Mr. Konietzko, Mr. DiMartino, thank you. <3
ETA #3: And OH YES, Dara has a new post up on the topic here, to go along with her earlier post here!
