Avatar: The Legend of Korra is an amazing show with a large fanbase, but in comparison to the show’s predecessor, Avatar: The Last Airbender, not everyone believes that The Legend Of Korra always works. And even if they do believe that, not every fan agrees on what exactly makes it work.
Fan-favorite characters may be hated, relationships may be unlovable, and the storylines may not be as grand as they were meant to be. And thanks to Reddit, it is easy to see these unpopular opinions amongst fans, and spot which unusual views have a point, and which are just plain ridiculous.
Mako Was A Good Boyfriend
Mako was slandered for the way that he treated Korra and Asami during their relationships. Mako most likely didn’t mean to make these mistakes, but that’s not enough for most fans to forgive him. However, some Redditors still stand by his side.
According to Reddit user whoyu1234, “Mako was a good boyfriend. Most of the reasons he and Korra broke up were because of her insecurities with Tenzin, and even when he got back together with Asami, that was only after Korra and he were officially over. The only really hateable thing is when he neglected to tell Korra about the breakup after she lost her memory, but even that was kinda understandable given the circumstance.”
Asami’s Arc With Her Father In Season 1 Was Handled Poorly
When Asami turned against her father in season 1, it was an emotional moment for her character arc, and it later led to one of The Legend Of Korra‘s saddest quotes in season 1, where Asami states aloud that Hiroshi is a horrible father.
Fans wondered where this would take Asami’s character, but according to Redditor The_impericalist, it was disappointing, “It should have been harder for Asami to adapt to the new life in hiding when her father turned out to be a criminal. I think they wanted to show that Asami isn’t just a stuck up princess, but I definitely think they should have shown more of her struggles. Maybe an outburst or something like her breaking down.”
Varrick Didn’t Deserve Zhu Li
While the series ended with the marriage of Varrick and Zhu Li, not everyone saw it as a happy ending. According to Reddit user Orange2218, Varrick treated Zhu Li way too terribly for them to ever be happy together: “Varrick literally had called Zhu Li “a cold heartless war machine” in season 2. I don’t think he ever apologized to her. You know, when Zhu Li betrayed Varrick and gave her reasons, I found those reasons legitimate and I felt like Varrick deserved it.”
The treatment of Zhu Li was often played as a joke, and she did ultimately seem very happy in their relationship, but it’s easy to see why he’s not a good enough partner for her.
The Show Had Too Many Characters
As stated by Reddit user mrbarybee, “I don’t know how unpopular it is but TLOK had too many characters for a rather short series. Main characters like Mako and Asami never got the screen time they deserved for that reason.”
The Legend of Korra definitely has a lot of characters, but considering there are four seasons, that seems plenty of time to have a large cast. Then again, many audience members do feel like a number of characters didn’t get as much development as they should have, such as Mako and Asami, so maybe there is some truth to there simply being too many characters for the writers to handle.
The Airbending Plot Was Wasted
To the delight of many viewers, airbending was brought back in the third season, but according to one Redditor, this plot point was done poorly: “I love LOK and Book 3 is probably the best of both shows, but I still dislike that they revived airbending with a lazy plot device (“Harmonic Convergence”). Then they never put any effort into explaining it and it was clearly just done because they wanted an airbending villain.”
Considering the weight that the genocide of the airbenders had over previous storylines in Avatar, it’s understandable why people were disappointed. However, this did lead to some of the best airbending fights in the whole Avatar universe.
Unalaq Wasn’t A Bad Villain
To many fans, the season 2 villain, Unalaq, is the worst villain in the series, and it weakens season 2 overall. But according to Redditor Dennisbaily, “Unalaq wasn’t a bad villain and season 2 could have been great if they had left him in the dark about Vaatus intentions and if they had toned down the finale.”
The season 2 finale is often seen as a bad episode, but Unalaq’s problems as a villain didn’t start there. Even the show itself ended up making a joke about viewers disliking him, and while the idea of him being unaware of Vaatu’s intentions is an interesting idea, it might have not been enough to make fans like him.
Varrick Was Let Off Too Easily
Varrick was one of the best Legend of Korra characters introduced after season 1, but not everyone loved him unconditionally. As stated by one Reddit user, “I think the writers let Varrick off the hook too easily. Let’s not forget that in season 2 he arranges an act of domestic terrorism, attempts to kidnap the president of Republic City, and almost destroys Asami’s company among other things. But then the next time we see him all of that just gets shrugged off and he never actually faces real consequences for what he did.”
Varrick probably could have faced some blowback, but perhaps it’s a message about how being exceedingly wealthy often lets someone off the hook for things.
It Was Good That Previous Avatars Were Destroyed
In the finale of season 2, when Unalaq cut off Korra’s connection to the previous Avatars, including Aang, it was one of The Legend Of Korra‘s saddest moments. Many fans were distraught, believing that the show was being uncharacteristically mean and had destroyed one of the most unique aspects of the Avatar universe.
However, according to Reddit user AdEvening7440, “I liked that they killed off the previous Avatars. I think if they didn’t do it, people would have expected Aang to show up every time Korra was in trouble, which would have distracted from the tension of the later seasons.”
They Used The A:TLA Characters The Wrong Amount
One great thing about The Legend of Korra is that it included characters from its previous show, The Last Airbender. But according to Redditor Dennisbaily, this wasn’t done so well: “I know in LOK they didn’t want to use too many ATLA characters and make them too influential. But I think they could have used them more. Giving them very minor roles only makes people want to know more and creates unhappy viewers. Either give them as much screen time and growth as Toph did or don’t give them any at all like Sokka.”
While fans may have wished to see A:TLA‘s wonderful cast of characters more than they did, most viewers still enjoyed the glimpses that they got.
Korra Is A Better Character Than Aang
When it comes to the Avatars Korra and Aang, fans love both, but tend to like Aang slightly more, which is what makes swimmingrobot88’s opinion unpopular, as they argue that “Korra is a better character than Aang. I love Aang, don’t get me wrong. But I definitely find Korra to be a more relatable character than Aang and she gets better development.”
While fans may generally prefer Aang, there is definitely no denying how great of a character Korra is. swimmingrobot88 is right in how she goes through more development as a character, and she often struggles more, which makes her very relatable to watch.
