Legend of Korra was a television show that had quite a bit riding on it from the very beginning. To start, it was a spin-off of the highly successful Avatar: The Last Airbender, thus already setting an extremely high bar to pass just to satisfy fans of its predecessor.
Despite some minor complaints, LoK delivered on just about every level and managed to conclude its four-season run with a storyline that gave Korra and her friends the definitive ending that they deserved. That said, not every episode could be perfect and some obviously ranked higher than others when it came to fan favorites.
Enemy at the Gates, Episode 5 (8.6)
Korra was unique in that there was a brand new antagonist for every season, the fourth being no different when they introduced Kuvira, an Earth Kingdom dictator that could’ve given Ozai a run for his money.
During this episode, Kuvira brings her army to Zaofu and orders their immediate surrender, only for Su and her children to refuse to yield to Kuvira’s demands. Korra tries to step in and ease the situation, but unfortunately, they can’t come to an agreement – resulting in Su and her children trying to infiltrate Kuvira’s camp and getting captured in the process.
The Battle of Zaofu, Episode 6 (8.6)
As stated, Su and her children got captured in the prior episode which resulted in Kuvira once again demanding that Zaofu surrender, but this time Korra steps in and tells Kuvira it will never happen. In response, rather than have her army attack the city, Kuvira suggests battling Korra 1v1 with the loser walking away entirely- which Korra accepts.
However (having been out of touch/training for several years) Korra is a little rusty and gets her butt kicked. When others interfere with the battle to save Korra, Kuvira unleashes her entire army and takes down Zaofu.
Beyond the Wilds, Episode 9 (8.6)
After leaving Zaofu and returning to Republic City, Korra learns (via the Spirit Vines in the city) that Kuvira is harvesting even more Spirit Vines from the Swamp to power a weapon. She warns the President of Kuvira’s impending attack, causing the city to go on high-alert and prepare for war.
Unfortunately, while all of this happens, Jinora gets attacked and captured (along with several others) by angry Spirit Vines, causing Korra to have to go into the Spirit World (with some help from Zaheer) to try and find everyone, which she does.
After All These Years, Episode 1 (8.7)
At the end of season 3, Korra was going through a really rough time as her fight with Zaheer had left her crippled and mentally-tortured. So, when season 4 started, audiences were excited to see how she was doing.
However, the episode started by showing everybody except Korra and explained that it had been 3 years since Korra’s fight with Zaheer and that a new dictator, Kuvira, had risen to power in Korra’s absence. The episode ends on a cliff-hanger revealing that Korra had ditched her former life and was living incognito in a tiny Earth-Kingdom village.
The Calling, Episode 4 (8.7)
With Korra gone and nobody having any idea where she went (and with Kuvira quickly ‘uniting’ the entire Earth Kingdom) Tenzen decides that it’s of utmost importance that they recover Korra immediately. So naturally, he sends the best 3 people for the job – Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo. The three siblings traverse the better part of the Earth Kingdom looking for Korra.
Meanwhile, Korra gets her butt kicked by an elderly Toph who tries to help her overcome her fears. However, Toph ends up revealing that Korra still has some of the metal-poison in her blood, prompting Korra to bend the metal out of her own body once Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo find her in the Swamp.
Kuvira’s Gambit, Episode 11 (8.7)
While Korra and Republic City knew that Kuvira was harvesting Spirit Vines, they didn’t know what it was for – until this episode, when Kuvira arrives with a 100-ft tall mecha-giant that has a Spirit Gun attached to its arm. After just one display of its power, the President surrenders the city, but luckily Team Avatar intercepts Baatar on his way to discuss terms and kidnaps him.
When Kuvira finds out where they’re keeping him (rather than try and save her husband) she opens fire on the building with the spirit gun.
Operation Beifong, Episode 10 (9.0)
When Su and her children weren’t able to escape after the Battle of Zaofu, the team felt so guilty about leaving them imprisoned that they decided to come up with a plan to break them out. They meet back up with Toph and discover where the Beifongs are being held captive.
Meanwhile, Zhu Li gets called-out by Kuvira for deliberately sabotaging her spirit weapon, only for Zhu Li to get saved at the last minute by the escaping Beifongs (as well as one final super bad-ass moment from Toph where she single-handedly takes down all of Kuvira’s puppets).
The Last Stand, Episode 13 (9.0)
The final episode of the entire series dealt with Team Avatar trying to do everything they could to bring down Kuvira and her giant mecha-suit. By using plasma-cutters, they were able to carve a hole in the platinum-giant and made their way inside where they confronted Kuvira and dismembered the robot.
However, the suit gets tangled in a surplus of Spirit Vines, causing the weapon to malfunction and explode into a brand-new Spirit Portal. With Kuvira stopped and the world finally saved, the series ends with Korra and Asami going on a trip into the Spirit World together, entering via the brand new portal.
Day of the Colossus, Episode 12 (9.2)
Once Kuvira annihilated the building she thought Team Avatar (and her husband) were hiding in, the gang rallies with all of the airbenders and they try to thwart Kuvira from taking over the city. Sadly, all of their attempts fail as the Colossus seems to not only be unstoppable but it’s also impenetrable so they can’t destroy it from the inside until Asami’ dad shows up and tells them they can cut through the platinum with plasma-cutters (which they use at his company).
They manufacture the plasma-cutters onto one of Varrick’s flying inventions and Asami’s father sacrifices himself in order to cut a hole in the giant where the rest of them can enter and destroy it.
Korra Alone, Episode 2 (9.3)
In the season opener, it was revealed that Korra had run away from home. However, during the next episode, audiences got to see what Korra had been up to during the 3-year time-jump in-between the seasons – in other words, just trying to recover from her battle with Zaheer.
Upon finally learning to walk again, Korra still can’t overcome her demons and decides to run away from home, whereupon she’s tormented by a vision of her poisoned-Avatar State body from the previous season. However, in the end, she finds herself at the Swamp… where she encounters a familiar face (even it’s from a former lifetime) when she discovers Toph living among the muck and mud.
