Avatar: The Legend of Korra is a rather divisive show. While fans may argue that it’s better than most cartoons out there, there is some divide on whether or not the show is truly great. This is due at least in part to the fact that while most of the episodes are amazing, a few are a little lackluster.
Reddit allows fans to discuss which episodes they love, and which ones they hate. From this, it’s easy to spot a consensus about which episodes Redditors think are the worst overall. This may be due to their plot, action, or just due to the faults of the characters. Either way, these installments don’t seem to compare to the rest of the show.
Remembrances – 4×08
In the final season of the show, the franchise was running into budget cuts. Because of this, a clip show episode had to be used. The episode was funny, and made the best of a bad situation, but ultimately fans consider it one of the worst episodes. Clip shows are generally seen as pointless filler, and even though Korra tries to add something new to it, such as the hilarious villain phone call, it clearly wasn’t enough.
As stated by Reddit user Kronenburg_Korra, “Remembrances is far and away, the worst episode of LOK. We learn absolutely nothing about the characters. All the self-reflection they have about themselves, we’ve already been SHOWN instead of told.”
The Calling – 4×04
The airbending kids don’t tend to be fan-favorite characters. In fact, many viewers find these characters to be annoying. So it seems pretty inevitable that an episode which centers around them would be viewed as one of the worst. And while the introduction of more airbending characters in Legend of Korra led to some of the best Avatar airebending fights, these battles aren’t really shown here.
The episode does have some good moments, such as Korra finally metalbending the rest of the mercury out of her body, but as Redditor 2-2Distracted points out, “I didn’t like parts of The Calling that had to do with the kids and those Earth Empire guards who were complete idiots.”
Peacekeepers – 2×05
Redditor MrBKainXTR has a lot of negative things to say about this episode: “Korra is just so rash in this episode it goes beyond being out of character and she just becomes a very unlikeable protagonist. One other complaint is that the cartoonish cop characters being detectives frankly undermines Lin’s competence. The rest of the episode is mostly inoffensive but uninteresting. That combined with the worse animation makes it my least favorite episode.”
Since this episode involves Korra and Mako’s breakup, it can be hard to watch, plus the different political moves that many characters make are also frustrating, making for a rather grating episode.
Light In The Dark – 2×14
Season 2 is generally thought of as the worst season of Legend of Korra, and part of this has to do with the final episode. Redditor Background-Walrus-34 states that “Light in the Dark is one of the worst episodes of Korra. It is somewhat respected, but I definitely hate it. Book 2 could’ve been better without the spirit portals and the stupid harmonic convergence that supposedly changed the world. Even ATLA was smart enough not to go that far!”
There are some epic fights here, and the episode does include one of the saddest Legend of Korra quotes, so it’s able to be somewhat emotional at least. But ultimately, this episode was a dissatisfying conclusion to a dissatisfying season.
Endgame – 1×12
While fans generally love season 1, Reddit user Winmat97 asks “Did anyone find that the ending of season 1 was super rushed and they tied loose ends way too quickly? Especially Tarrlok blowing up the ship and Korra getting her powers back for no reason? I’m open to different views but I can’t understand how suicide and a random Avatar intervention was the best way to follow the last 5 mins.”
This episode is an anomaly, as it is considered one of the best Legend of Korra episodes by Reddit, while also being considered the worst by the same website. Clearly, it’s a love it or hate it situation, which shows how impactful of a show Korra could be.
The Spirit Of Competition – 1×05
According to Reddit user deathleaper, “my least favorite episode would probably be S01E05, ‘The Spirit of Competition,’ because it focused on the two subplots I rather disliked: the probending which wasn’t awful, but still felt sort of extraneous to the overall plot, and the stupid romance subplot, which was obnoxious the entire season (mostly because of Mako being a jerk, I rather liked Asami partially because she wasn’t angry at Korra for Mako liking her).”
The love square between the main characters has always been a part of the show that fans found frustrating, and as this is the episode that focuses on it the most, it’s easy to see why Redditors dislike this one.
Operation Beifong – 4×10
Many fans enjoy this episode which focuses on Toph and her family, but as stated by FunDark0, “There are good ideas in this episode, but I was not a fan of the execution. Opal and Bolin rekindle their relationship, but it didn’t feel earned. Because it’s overshadowed by so many other problems in this episode. Toph and Lin’s whole feud isn’t really taken as seriously as it should be. Also the father thing is dumb, It comes out of nowhere and is not built up enough.”
The episode does have one of the best earthbending fights in the whole Avatar series, however, so at least the episode’s climax is exciting to watch, even if the rest feels slightly underwhelming.
The Sting – 2×06
As stated by Reddit user MaximusPaxmusJaximus, “The Sting was just horrible, cringy nonsense. It was just so boring I could hardly keep my eyes open, and to this day it’s one of the only two episodes in Korra that I usually skip. I was also very frustrated with Bolin in Season 2 and wanted to slap him for kissing Ginger like that.”
This episode does feature many characters doing frustrating things, such as Mako and Asami getting back together, Bolin acting creepy towards his co-star, and the way Varrick was able to manipulate everyone so easily with little consequence. The parts with Korra and her memory loss are interesting, but not interesting enough to save the episode.
