The Legend of Korra "Kuvira's Gambit" Review: The Big Gun
The Legend of Korra S04E11: "Kuvira's Gambit"
After taking a short hiatus from weekly reviews and a string of episodes that included a clip-show episode I'm still angrily shaking my fists about, I'm back for The Legend of Korra's final three episodes ever. In case you need a refresher on what transpired while I was away, TV.com user @cabutoyammay posted recaps of the four episodes I sat out, including the clip-show episode, so kudos to @cabutoyammay!
My time off from Korra might've been helpful. While I was very jazzed with the first three episodes of the season, Book 4 didn't slow down after "The Coronation" so much as it redirected a fair bit of its energy into ensuring that the new status quo circled back to the old, pre-time-skip status quo. Much of that work was done in "The Battle of Zaofu," but the four episodes between it and "Kuvira's Gambit" were about getting everyone back to Republic City and preparing for the arrival of Kuvira and her very big spirit cannon. While they were entertaining—apart from that damnable clip-show installment, of course—they still had a very rushed feel to them, particularly "Beyond the Wilds," which made me slap my forehead over how quickly Raava just showed up and things got all better for Korra.
But now we're here. Mako and Bolin are on the same team once again. Zhu Li wasn't a turncoat and didn't mean those spot-on things she said about Varrick (sigh!), but at least she finally wants some respect from him (yay!). Opal and Bolin appear to be on good terms after the success of "Operation Beifong." Lin even enjoyed some closure with Toph! Basically, everything is right with the good guys, and just in time for Kuvira to blow a big fat hole in everything.
So let's talk about Kuvira, because now that Korra seems to be fit as a fiddle again, Kuvira is favorite element of Book 4. While I'm still a little frustrated that we never fully got to see Kuvira's transformation from idealistic Zaofu guard to disappointed mentee to kingdom stabilizer to unstoppable warlord, Korra at least gave us the gist of that arc. Su's isolationist tendencies and her general disdain for centralized authority resulted in her simply not being interested in restoring the Earth Kingdom under her own leadership, let alone for another king or queen to assume the throne. Kuvira, displaying a surprising amount of Earth Kingdom pride despite living in Zaofu, wouldn't let this stand, so she went and salvaged Ba Sing Se before uniting the Earth Empire under her banner.
Maybe it did start with the idea of setting up a Zaofu-esque nation-state, but we'll never know for sure. We just know that, at some point, Kuvira came to see herself as the Great Uniter and savior of the Earth Empire, and that she was the only one capable of running such a sprawling country. And she's demonstrated that she's very good at management. Her rhetoric and actions both at Wu's coronation and at the Battle of Zaofu spoke volumes, and likely yielded positive impressions about her ability to lead, especially in contrast to the foppish Wu and the ineffectual Korra. She may be a ruthless dictator, but she's a ruthless dictator who gets results... and who just so happens to have re-education camps for dissidents at her disposal... and who will lock up everyone living in the Earth Kingdom who isn't of Earth Kingdom origin.
Yes, Kuvira's gone mad with power, but by golly, she know what she wants. I find it difficult to believe that Kuvira really cares about Aang and Zuko taking land from the Earth Kingdom to set up the United Republic of Nations—who knows for sure at this point—but it's still a sore spot for the Earth Queen, and when you're building an empire on restoring glory and a strong sense of nationalism, few things are better for rallying public support and troops than deciding to reclaim lands that were rightfully yours before outsiders decided otherwise. And, hey, if you need to kill the man you love in the process because he doesn't share your dream in its entirety? So be it! (Though, seriously, that's some icy-cold ruthlessness, Kuvira.)
Really, though, it was just good cover for Kuvira to take out her political and military opponents who are based in that very land. Two birds, ONE VERY BIG STONE. What do we make of her giant mecha suit armed with the spirit-vine cannon? I recall that at the end of Book 1, there were plenty of folks who were annoyed by the fact that there were automobiles in the Avatar universe, let alone mechas. Has enough time passed for us to have generally accepted this stuff as part of Korra's world? I'm still of the opinion that the technological advances came about in part as a reaction to benders in the Hundred Year War, as a way to counter their abilities (and to bolster them, too, of course). Thus, Kuvira's spirit cannon is very much a reaction to the spirits being present in the world again, and a mecha armed with that cannon seems like the best way to handle an army as large as the United Republic's.
Although, with that being said, this feels like a bridge too far. It's very cool that Kuvira controls the suit, in part, by metalbending a bunch of trackballs, but it's a giant mecha, for pete's sake. I've seen enough episodes of various incarnations of Gundam to know that mechas severely destabilize world affairs, and then we get into a mecha arms race and soon Earth is fighting colonies in outer space and then the colonies start fighting each other and then aliens attack and then there's orange Tang everywhere. Okay, maybe that wasn't all Gundam—some of it was Neon Genesis Evangelion—but you see the slippery slope we're on here. It's entirely too big of a stone for this world. The cannon was one thing, but the mecha? Something else entirely.
And, honestly, I'm worried that Giant Blue Spirit Korra is going to return to fight Kuvira's mecha in the finale, and I really don't want that. It was sort of cool and awesome in Book 2, but I don't need to see it again. I'll guess we'll find out next week!
LEAVES ON THE WIND
– I cannot overstate how happy I was that Zhu Li wanted Varrick to shape up. Seriously. I even let loose a little chuckle at Varrick's shrug and grunt of confusion.
– Tenzin in the airbender stealth suit? REALLY FREAKED ME OUT. Please, let's not do that again. Robes all the time.
– Those flying mechas looked pretty cool. I'm sad we won't get to see them in action, probably?
– It was a minor thing, but I really liked that Wu got a chance to shine here.
What did you think of "Kuvira's Gamble"?
