The Legend of Korra (season 4)

Book Four: Balance
Region 1 DVD cover art
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	Nick.com
Original release	October 3 – December 19, 2014

Book Four: Balance is the fourth and final season of the animated television series The Legend of Korra by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It consists of thirteen episodes ("chapters"), all animated by Studio Mir. The episodes are made available on the Nickelodeon website and other online outlets each Friday beginning on October 3, 2014. Critical reception of Book Four, as of the series in general, was positive.

Book Four is set three years after the previous season. It deals with Avatar Korra's journey of self-discovery following the physical and psychological injuries she incurred in the fight with Zaheer and with unrest in the Earth Kingdom where Kuvira, formerly a security officer in Suyin Beifong's service, seeks to seize power by military force.^[1]

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Animated by	Directed by	Written by	Original online release date	Production code
40	1	"After All These Years"	Studio Mir	Colin Heck	Joshua Hamilton	October 3, 2014	214
Three years after the defeat of Zaheer, the vain Prince Wu is about to be crowned Earth King, and Mako is assigned as his bodyguard. In the Earth Kingdom, Opal and Kai try to protect a community from bandits with limited success. Kuvira, who now styles herself the "Great Uniter", appears at the head of an army that includes Bolin, Varrick and his assistant Zhu Li. She offers the governor supplies and protection – if he submits his state to her sovereignty, which he reluctantly does. Elsewhere, a despondent Korra is fighting and losing earthbending cage matches, having apparently renounced her identity as the Avatar.
41	2	"Korra Alone"	Studio Mir	Ian Graham	Michael Dante DiMartino	October 10, 2014	215
In a flashback, Korra is slowly recovering with Katara at the South Pole, but remains weak and unable to enter the Avatar State. Instead of returning to Republic City, she travels the world alone. However, she fails to find solace and is haunted by a dark vision of herself as she appeared in the fight with Zaheer. A spirit leads her to the swamp, where she succumbs to the dark apparition's attacks but regains consciousness in the abode of Toph Beifong (Philece Sampler).
42	3	"The Coronation"	Studio Mir	Melchior Zwyer	Tim Hedrick	October 17, 2014	216
At Wu's coronation in Republic City, Kuvira refuses to yield power to him, and announces that she will lead the new Earth Empire. This creates a rift between her and the other world leaders including Suyin, as well as between Bolin and Mako, who has to protect the unpopular Wu from angry supporters of Kuvira. In the swamp, Toph agrees to help Korra regain her strength, primarily by beating her up with earthbending. She finds residual metal poison inside Korra but can't remove it – Korra subconsciously resists, scarred by her previous traumas. Meanwhile, Tenzin sends Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo to search for Korra, and Varrick experiments on spirit vines for Kuvira.
43	4	"The Calling"	Studio Mir	Colin Heck	Katie Mattila	October 24, 2014	217
While the young airbenders look far and wide for Korra, Ikki is briefly captured by two Earth Empire soldiers. Based on what they say, Ikki leads the trio to the Foggy Swamp. There, Korra is still haunted by visions of being hurt by her past enemies, but manages to connect to the siblings through the great banyan-grove tree's roots. After they beg her to resume her Avatar duties to face Kuvira, Toph's advice helps Korra to let go of her fears, bend the rest of the poison out of herself and re-enter the Avatar State.
44	5	"Enemy at the Gates"	Studio Mir	Ian Graham	Joshua Hamilton	October 31, 2014	218
As Kuvira's army marches on Zaofu, Suyin refuses to let her city join the new empire, and Korra tries in vain to negotiate a peaceful outcome. Varrick and Bolin come to realize the totalitarian nature of Kuvira's rule, but their escape is foiled by Kuvira's fiancé and Suyin's son Baatar Jr. (Todd Haberkorn). While Zhu Li pledges her allegiance to Kuvira, Varrick is forced to weaponize the spirit vines for her, and Bolin is to be sent to a "reeducation" camp. In Republic City, Asami reconnects with her imprisoned father, Hiroshi.
45	6	"The Battle of Zaofu"	Studio Mir	Melchior Zwyer	Tim Hedrick	November 7, 2014	219
After Suyin and her twin sons are captured while infiltrating Kuvira's camp to take her out, Kuvira agrees to a duel with Korra to decide control of Zaofu. Korra is outmatched until she enters the Avatar State, but collapses as her dark specter reappears to her. Opal, Jinora, and Jinora's siblings save Korra and flee with her. Meanwhile, Varrick and Bolin escape after Varrick improvises a spirit vine bomb. Kuvira forces Zaofu's citizens to submit, and has Baatar Jr. and Zhu Li continue work on the vine superweapon.
46	7	"Reunion"	Studio Mir	Colin Heck	Michael Dante DiMartino	November 14, 2014	220
As Korra reunites with her friends in Republic City, Wu is abducted on Kuvira's orders. Korra, Asami, and Mako rescue him from a train and hide him with Mako's family in Asami's property. Meanwhile, Bolin and Varrick encounter refugees from Kuvira's prison camps, which now house anyone not of Earth Kingdom blood, and help them escape from the now walled-in Empire. In the swamp, Kuvira's forces begins harvesting the spirit tree's vines.
47	8	"Remembrances"	Studio Mir	Michael Dante DiMartino	Joshua Hamilton, Katie Mattila & Tim Hedrick	November 21, 2014	221
In a clip show episode, Mako, Korra, and Bolin recollect their past. Mako tells Wu about his romantic entanglements and eventual breakup with Asami and Korra. Korra talks to Asami about her confrontations with Amon, Unalaq, Vaatu, and Zaheer. Varrick presents Bolin's life to the Earth Empire refugees in the style of an action film in which Bolin defeats all of Korra's previous enemies.
48	9	"Beyond the Wilds"	Studio Mir	Ian Graham	Joshua Hamilton	November 28, 2014	222
In Republic City, Fire Lord Izumi (April Stewart) and Tenzin refuse to endorse Raiko's proposed offensive against Kuvira even after Bolin and Varrick bring word of her vine weapons research. Spirit vines attack Jinora and others, trapping them in the Spirit World, and Korra's rescue attempt is thwarted by Zaheer's apparition. As she faces him in his prison, he agrees to help her defeat Kuvira and leads Korra into the Spirit World, where Raava helps her release the captives' spirits. Meanwhile, Bolin attempts and fails to make up with Opal, but agrees to help her and Lin rescue their family.
49	10	"Operation Beifong"	Studio Mir	Melchior Zwyer	Tim Hedrick	December 5, 2014	223
Near Zaofu, Opal, Lin, and Bolin are joined by Toph and track the Beifong prisoners to a facility where Baatar Jr. and Zhu Li are testing a vine energy supercannon. Kuvira discovers Zhu Li's attempt to sabotage the weapon, but the rescue team manage to save her as well as break out the captured Beifongs, achieving a measure of reconciliation between Lin and Toph in the process. Meanwhile, Korra tries and fails to convince the spirits to help defend Republic City, which Kuvira is set to attack in two weeks.
50	11	"Kuvira's Gambit"	Studio Mir	Colin Heck	Joshua Hamilton	December 12, 2014	224
Wu and Mako help evacuate Republic City, and Asami and Varrick build a fleet of flying mecha-suits to defend it. But Kuvira's forces attack earlier than expected. Her superweapon, now mounted on a giant mecha, devastates the Republic's navy, forcing Raiko to surrender. Korra and the airbenders capture the mecha's creator, Baatar Jr. After Korra threatens to keep him from Kuvira forever, he attempts to convince Kuvira to end the attack, but she has the mecha fire on Baatar's and Team Avatar's position.
51	12	"Day of the Colossus"	Studio Mir	Ian Graham	Tim Hedrick	December 19, 2014	225
Barely surviving Kuvira's attack, Korra and her friends look for ways to take down the colossus. After paint bombs, lavabending, metal cables, air gusts, and an electromagnetic pulse set up by Varrick all fail, Lin frees Hiroshi Sato, who proposes to take the mecha out from the inside. Asami, Hiroshi, and the newly engaged Varrick and Zhu Li attach plasma torches to the two remaining flight suits, then engage the metal monster. After Hiroshi allows the mecha to crush his flight suit in order to be able to cut open the hull of the colossus, Korra's group is able to enter it.
52	13	"The Last Stand"	Studio Mir	Melchior Zwyer	Michael Dante Dimartino	December 19, 2014	226
In the mecha's control room, Korra and Kuvira fight one another. Meanwhile, Team Avatar begin to take the giant apart from the inside. Suyin and Lin make it discard its arm and weapon, and Bolin and Mako detonate its power source. Korra and Kuvira crash-land in the city's vine jungles, and Kuvira activates the discarded cannon, triggering a staggering release of power that blasts Korra, together with Kuvira whom she shields, into the Spirit World. After they reemerge from what has become a new spirit portal, Kuvira concedes defeat and is arrested. Some time later, at Zhu Li and Varrick's wedding, Wu announces his intent to abdicate in favor of democratic Earth states, and Korra and Asami leave, hand in hand, for a vacation in the Spirit World.

Production

After Nickelodeon cut the budget for season 4 by about the amount required for one episode, DiMartino and Konietzko decided to include a clip show episode, which reuses previously produced animation, instead of letting many of the creative staff go. Inspired by Samurai Champloo's clip show episode "The Disorder Diaries", they chose to frame a series of edited clips from the previous seasons of The Legend of Korra with about five minutes of new animation. Aired as episode 8, "Remembrances", the clip show was also intended as "a lighthearted romp" similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender's episode "The Ember Island Players" before the series enters its dénouement.^[2]

Reception

The series' final shot, intended to show Asami and Korra becoming a romantic couple, was seen as pushing the boundaries of LGBT representation in children's TV.^[3]

In the final scene of the season and the series, Korra and Asami face each other holding hands. This scene recalls the earlier wedding scene between Zhu Li and Varrick, as well as the last shot of Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which Aang and Katara kiss. It was subject to discussion outside of entertainment media, notably after the series' creators confirmed that the scene was meant to signify Korra and Asami becoming a romantic couple.^[4] According to Joanna Robinson for Vanity Fair, who described the series finale as "the most subversive television event of the year", it "changed the face of TV" by going further than any other work of children's television in depicting same-sex relationships^[5] – an assessment shared by reviewers for TV.com,^[6] The A.V. Club,^[3] USA Today,^[7] IGN^[8] and Moviepilot.^[9] Megan Farokhmanesh of Polygon wrote that by portraying Korra and Asami as bisexual, the series even avoided the error of assuming sexual orientation, as many other TV series did, to be a strict divide between "gay" and "straight".^[10]

References

1. Goldman, Eric (29 September 2014). "THE LEGEND OF KORRA EXCLUSIVE CLIP: WATCH THE OPENING SEQUENCE FROM BOOK FOUR". IGN. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
2. Konietzko, Bryan (20 November 2014). "A few preemptive words about Episode 408, "Remembrances"...". Retrieved 21 November 2014.
3. Sava, Oliver (19 December 2014). "The Legend Of Korra: "Day Of The Colossus"/"The Last Stand"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
4. Holpuch, Amanda (23 December 2014). "Legend Of Korra creators confirm show's same-sex relationship". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
5. Robinson, Joanna (19 December 2014). "How a Nickelodeon Cartoon Became One of the Most Powerful, Subversive Shows of 2014". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
6. Kirkpatrick, Noel (19 December 2014). "The Legend of Korra Series Finale Review: New Beginnings". TV.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
7. Hoai-Tran, Bui (22 December 2014). "Let's talk about that 'Legend of Korra' ending...". USA Today. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
8. IGN Staff (24 December 2014). "THE LEGEND OF KORRA: IGN EDITORS REACT TO THE ENDING AND KORRASAMI". IGN. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
9. Dauvin, Angela (19 December 2014). "Legend of Korra: Living Up to the ATLA Legacy". Moviepilot. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
10. Farokhmanesh, Megan (23 December 2014). "The Legend of Korra achieved more in under a minute than most shows do in their lifetime". Polygon. Retrieved 23 December 2014.