K412 Day Of The Colossus

Written By - Tim Hedrick Directed By - Ian Graham Animated By - Studio Mir So Korra is over now. I can't believe that I am writing that, but it is true, with this episode and K413 The Last Stand, The Legend Of Korra has come to an end, how was it? Overall I think this finale was an excellent end to the series, as ever with finales they are never perfect and not everything is resolved, but as a satisfying conclusion to this great show, it worked completely. Specifically talking about "Day Of The Colossus" we get an extremely action packed episode with near complete focus on our heroes taking on the colossus, in this episode everything flows together you are seeing lots of different groups of characters all doing their part in this crazy situation. The action is definitely the key focus here and it is amazing, all of the plans that our heroes try to take out the colossus are clever and on another day could definitely have worked, but because of how powerful the Colossus is. What makes these scenes so great is that the plans are not just basic attack together plans, there are layers and a lot of thought put into them by the characters. From Meelo coming up with the idea of using paint to obscure Kuvira's view, to Bolin, Su and LIn dropping a whole building onto the colossus, every plan is unique and different and as the episode progresses each plan is more and more desperate and risky. The power of the colossus also puts every character who fights it in mortal peril, shots like half of the city being cut in half and exploding behind Korra show this perfectly. Wu had his best showing all season in this episode. He got a good few scenes to really show how much he has grown, in the early episodes this guy was a complete coward who only cared about the luxury of being King and here, we see him leading the evacuation to save the civilians of Republic City and even more impressive standing up to Earth Empire soldiers. A lot of fans questioned where his character arc was going as he was not developing very quickly, but for me Wu in the finale was a great end to his arc. It is short and simple, but it works. The influence of Mako and his family  on him has clearly made him see the importance of helping the people he has to rule over and the importance of standing up for the people he cares about. Often Korra has struggled to give some of the minor characters a satisfying arc, Wu pulled it off for me. Especially when the Badgermoles arrived, this was a big moment in the finale for me as I love all of the original bender animals (and Moon!!!), so them showing up was great, especially given Wu's family relationship with Animals. King Kuei's best friend is a regular bear, Bosco and Queen Hou Ting's is allergic to animals and hates them and now Wu is revealed to have a great connection to badgermoles with his singing. It is also a great connection to The Cave of Two Lovers from ATLA and Chong's singing being of interest to the badgermoles, not to mention they all escape via a SECRET TUNNEL this time through the city rather than the mountain. Finale note on these scenes, I liked that Pema did get some focus in the finale, with her singing and the line about being able to handle anything because she is Meelo's mother. Next up our two big relationships in this episode. Varrick and Zhu Li and Hiroshi and Asami. With Varrick and Zhu Li I loved that we got yet another moment teasing Varrick's feelings for Zhu Li, but something interrupting them before he could finish. This time he was going to make his odd story get around to how he felt about Zhu Li, he was getting into how he began to take his pet Ostrich Horse for granted, which is exactly what he did with Zhu Li. We did get a few notes about Varrick's backstory, yet another character who joined a circus! We did eventually get the big moment we were waiting for. As everyone prepares for the final attack on titan (See what I did there!) Varrick decides there is one final thing to attach, an engagement ring to Zhu Li's finger. I was not expecting this, but it just works, no need for a set up scene for the proposal, these two have been so close for years as boss and assistant, you get the idea that both have just never told each other how they felt until Zhu Li began to tell Varrick in recent episodes, so them going straight to the proposal makes sense. Finding out that Zhu Li's full name is Zhu Li Moon was pretty interesting, bringing up the whole last name confusion in the Avatar world. It was such a happy moment to watch, it was such a relief to at last see these characters come together and tell each other how they feel. Not to mention how intense it makes the final fight in this episode, you are dreading this newly engaged couple being killed so soon after coming together. On the other hand you have Hiroshi's return into the story, I had almost forgot he was in the book when Lin mentioned he got him out  of jail to help, but I was happy that there was a reason for his inclusion in the book. Seeing him and Asami work together, bringing key points to the final battle, Asami's design of the hummingbird and Hiroshi's plasma saw modification. It cannot be understated how important this interaction is to Asami as a character, ultimately in the whole series, Asami's main character arc is about her relationship with her father. Like Varrick and Zhu li when they go into battle, you are hoping so much that this newly repaired bond is not broken by a death. So when the battle happens, they tease what you fear when Zhu Li and Varrick are forced to eject, which is good set up explaining how the ejector seats work, then in the most emotional moment of this episode of the finale Hiroshi sacrifices himself, ejecting Asami, but not himself to finish cutting through the colossus to save the city he loves so much. Hiroshi's death is extremely powerful, in the grand scheme of the series he is a fairly minor character and a villain from Book 1, but because of how important he is to Asami, his death is deeply tragic. With his death Asami is left with no family, so you really feel for her, she has been through a lot in her life. His death does give everyone else a chance at victory, adding a new layer to the fight in episode 13, the want to make his sacrifice meaningful and not in vain. I could spend hours writing about the action, but I can sum it up in a word, amazing. Instead I will just focus on some other points I have within the action. I love all of the action, my only issues are how some of the more minor characters are used. I was not happy that Jinora's main involvement in the finale was to nearly get killed by a spirit weapon only to be save by Tenzin, for me this should have been reversed or you have Jinora save Kai to give a moment where you actually show their relationship. I can't believe K401 mentioned they are a couple, yet we saw no seen showing what they are like as a couple. The issue with Jinora being the one in peril is that she was already in that position a few episodes ago when she was taken by the spirit vines, this is the season where you have her as a 3 year Airbending master and the season basically portrayed her as not being very powerful or showing a key relationship for her. It is similar with Opal, again she is knocked out and saved by Bolin, but no other scene showing their relationship, I was really waiting for her to return the I Love You to Bolin that he said to her back in episode 10. I understand they were pressed for time, but I think there was a way to incorporate these scenes by changing around what some of the characters do. I have to mention the biggest missed opportunity  of the finale. They teased and I think trolled us with making us believe Meelo would save Tenzin by fartbending to break their fall, but instead us uses his legs to airbend. I get that they are trying to show that Meelo is taking this seriously in that he is using standard moves, but I think it would have completely worked with Fartbending, especially given that Meelo couldn't help to capture Baatar because of his farts, I really wanted it to be useful here to prove to Korra that there is a use for his unusual technique. Overall, while K413 may get most of the plaudits having most of the final resolution scenes this episode is fantastic in its own right. Great action utilising a lot of characters with Korra leading well and some really powerful emotional moments including an engagement and a death. It also works perfectly to set up next episode. we end with out character inside the colossus, leaving the last episode to finish all the fights. The Colossus is got across so well in this episode, it really feels nearly unstoppable, which works for the finale villain's big weapon. K413 The Last Stand Review will be up tomorrow.