The Legend of Korra Recap | Episode 8, “Beginnings, Part 2”

 The Skinny

See Part 1 Recap!

The Breakdown

Part 2 begins with Korra still in the healing water. The healer says that they can’t bring Korra out of her spirit trance yet. She must confront the past as the Avatar to get past her current troubles. Friends, this is DEEP STUFF.

Back in Korra’s spirit trance vision thing, Rava is yelling about how the spirit and human worlds are plunging into chaos, and it is all her fault. Except she’s actually yelling at Wan. In order to help right his wrong of freeing Vatu, Wan offers to help Rava find him and bring balance back to the world. Rava is PISSED and doesn’t want a human’s help. She tells Wan not to get into the middle of spirit world stuff EVER AGAIN.

Of course, this is a failure. Wan hits the road again when he encounters some AIR BENDERS!!! AMAZING!! Wan has finally found another Lion Turtle city. He has a little trouble getting to it though because you have to air bend to get there. THIS IS A FLYING LION TURTLE CITY. I am dying. So is Wan. He rigs a catapult to get him over there and he just barely makes it.

Once he’s in the city, there’s all kinds of little spirits flying around. He approaches one of the air benders and explains how he’s been living among the spirits. While they’re talking, all of the spirits turn dark and start harassing the townspeople. Vatu is there. The air benders ask where the other half of Vatu is. Wan uses his fire power to defeat the spirits and then Rava shows up and goes after Vatu, who is goading her. He says he feels AWESOME since they were split and how much he can’t wait for this TRIPPY thing called “harmonic convergence” so he can finally take Rava down. Vatu flies off.

Rava then turns on Wan and tells him she told him to mind his own human business, but Wan insists that he had to do something to help the townspeople. Then, an air bender approaches Rava and asks how she and Vatu were split and, OOPS, Wan fesses up, saying that Vatu tricked him. Rava says that Vatu is turning more spirits dark, and that he is becoming more powerful, while she is becoming weaker. This is a problem. Wan apologizes for endangering the town and promises to make it right.

He goes to the Lion Turtle and asks for the power of air to defeat Vatu. At first the, Lion Turtle says that he already has a gift, and no human has ever had more than one. The Lion Turtle tells Wan that Rava will hold the power for him until Wan learns how to use it. Rava needs some convincing, but eventually agrees after Wan tells her that they can only defeat Vatu together.

Wan and Rava are walking and Wan asks Rava what harmonic convergence is. Rava tells him that it is a battle between Light and Dark for the fate of the world. Rava says that this battle will occur in about a year. Eventually, after some time passes training, Rava gives Wan his air gift. It’s kind of awesome to see this, guys. I can’t even lie.

When Wan asks Rava why she and Vatu haven’t defeated each other, she tells him that Light and Darkness cannot ever truly defeat one another. They are two sides of the same: They can only exist together. Every 10,000 years they go through the same battle. But if Vatu wins, darkness will cover the Earth and it will basically be Mordor (this is totally what went through my mind) for 10,000 years. BAD NEWS BEARS. Wan says that in order to defeat Vatu, he must visit more Lion Turtles and get more gifts.

Rava also tells Wan that the reason humans and spirits are always at odds is because as more spirits come through the portals at the North and South poles into the human world, humans were forced to seek out the Lion Turtles to protect them from the spirits, and being divided basically caused a rift and all kinds bad things. Wan, this whole time, is visiting other Lion Turtles, obtaining their gifts. He is water bending and earth bending.

Then, one day, Rava and Wan smell smoke and they find a burning town and it turns out that it’s Wan’s friend! They are afraid of Rava because she is a spirit, plain and simple. Even when Wan tells his friend that she is a good spirit, his friend–Jaya–is still angry. He doesn’t distinguish between the good and bad. Rava gets angry when she realizes that they are killing good spirits. They are fighting the animal spirits who first took in Wan. Wan tries to peacefully resolve their conflict, but it doesn’t really work, because then Vatu kind of shows up and turns the animal spirits dark. A fight breaks out and Wan tries to stop it using all of his gifts. He tells Rava that they must combine their energies to stop Vatu and OMG OMG OMG IT’S LIKE THE FIRST AVATAR STATE. I DIE. I DIE.

Wan and Rava joining up. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE AVATAR STATE. Courtesy of www.cap-that.com

Anyway, Rava eventually leaves his body to save him and then Wan passes out. When he wakes up, Vatu is there and he tells Wan that all of his human friends are dead and that he’ll see him shortly “at the end of the world.” DUN DUN DUNNNN. Wan looks so disheartened, and Rava is so small and weak. They ride off with Rava stashed in Wan’s teapot. *sad face*

Wan and Rava ride to the Southern spirit portal. Rava praises Wan because he’s AMAZING and seems to say goodbye a little bit. Vatu, all huge with evil, shows up and is being cocky and whatnot. Wan says that in order for Vatu to defeat Rava, he’ll have to defeat Wan first. Vatu is all like, “BAHAHA PUNY HUMAN!” Wan uses all of his elemental gifts and doesn’t seem to be making any headway. Vatu is schooling him. At just the moment when Wan is almost defeated, he calls to Rava, who is much smaller and not as powerful anymore, and says they can defeat him, but only together. They join, and Wan is able to use all of his gifts, like the Avatar can. This fight is epic and awesome.

Rava again tells Wan that she must leave his body or Wan will die. Wan says he doesn’t care because they have to defeat Vatu together. Guys, they do not do very well. Vatu is seriously about the finish Wan/Rava off when the planets literally align and Wan, who is pushed up against the spirit portal, touches it after some weird thing happens that I can’t even explain that connects two power sources and YOOOOOOOO HELLOOOO AVATAR WAN. Rava tells Wan that they are now bonded forever, and Wan defeats Vatu in the Avatar state.

AVATAR WAN. Courtesy of www.cap-that.com

Rava is what made the Avatar. My mind is blown.

Wan imprisons Vatu in the spirit portal and closes it. Vatu is caged up so that no human can release him (I am skeptical of this). All of the animal spirits pass through the portals and go away. The Lion Turtles disappear and Wan promises to restore peace and balance to the world.

As years pass, Wan ages and we see him again as he is dying on the battlefield. He apologizes to Rava for failing to bring peace to the world and she assures him that they will always be together, and that they will never give up their fight. Wan dies,and so the Avatar is reincarnated over and over again.

At this moment, Korra awakes. And she REMEMBERS. The healer shows Korra a herd of air bison. Korra needs to close the spirit portal soon because the healer tells her that the next harmonic convergence is only a few weeks away.

The Last Word

I almost can’t even tell you all how much I enjoyed these two episodes. First of all, I LOVED the style of the animation in Wan’s story. The settings and backgrounds looked like watercolors, and I loved them. But the whole idea of the Avatar being the spirit of light is so perfect. Seeing Wan become the first Avatar was really wonderful. I’m looking forward to Korra taking this new history of her past selves and applying it to the civil war between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.