The Legend Of Korra Book Two “Chapter Five: Peacekeepers”

Well, if you thought Chief Beifong might have softened her view on Korra after Book One…you would be very wrong.

So, in an episode where Tenzin learns to his shock and horror that his son Meelo is a little too good at training lemurs after he gives the boy some general pointers, we mostly see that Korra…really sucks at politics.

See, Korra’s plan is to ask President Raiko for help defeating the Northern Water Tribe as it invades the Southern Tribe’s territory.  That means helping out her dad and defeating her uncle.  Korra thinks this is a good idea.  Truthfully, in many ways, it’s not a terrible idea.  True, Varrick had it, and Varrick is going to be a character that annoys me anyway, but that doesn’t mean it’s terrible.

But here’s a question:  why would President Raiko want to get involved militarily in a civil war between the Water Tribes?  Sure, negotiate a peaceful settlement would be fine, but why choose sides?  That’s not really how international politics works.  Picking sides in a delicate situation, even when one side is clearly the aggressor, is not something a guy with constituents representing all the nations wants to do.

And then Varrick suggests Korra ask the military more directly.  She does known General Iroh after all.

OK, hold on.  That is…an even worse idea.

Sure, for the kids at home, it makes sense.  Heck, Iroh seems open to doing something a little clandestine that can help.  And yes, the Northern Tribe are the baddies here.  There’s just a few small problems here.

First, Korra does participate in a peace march with members of the Southern Tribe outside their cultural center.  Someone blows the building up,  Mako, working nearby as security/beat cop, sees some guys escape and one of them does some bending…of fire.  And no one he tells believes him.  Korra is sure it was the Northern Tribe.  Beifong doesn’t want reports from a rookie beat cop.  And the detectives handling the case don’t care even when Mako identifies the guy he saw from an old mug shot book.  So, that could be bad.

Second, Mako knows about the “talk to Iroh plan,” and when asked directly by Raiko with Beifong standing right there, he has to tell them what he knows.  So, Raiko can order Iroh to stay put, and then Korra and Mako can argue and break up.

By the by, Bolin is set to be a movie star because that’s Varrick’s idea of helping.  Plus, he also suggested Asami sell some weapons to Tonraq’s rebels.  These seem more…shady than anything else.  That said, Bolin is a bit more buff than I would have thought.

Alright, so what can Korra do?  Iroh did offer one suggestion:  talk to his mother and grandfather, because the Fire Lords have long been friends to the Avatar.

Well, on this show at least.

So, off she goes to the Fire Nation.  Maybe she can get some help there…except Unalaq sent Densa and the heartbroken Eska to bring her back (he needs Korra to open a portal).  And that ends when Korra’s boat goes down and some giant dark spirit swallows her.

I don’t think that was part of anybody’s plan.